Four Turtles, One Rat, One Boy
by Light Seeker 001
Summary: Set in the 2003 cartoon, the turtles and Splinter adopt an orphaned boy ten years ago. Now they raise the boy to be one of their own and teach him to be a shinobi. A Ninja. Copyright: Peter Laird and Kevin Eastman. All OC's belong to me. Don't steal them!
1. Chapter 1

_My name is Leonardo. And right now, my brothers and I are in a mess of trouble. Our backs are up against the wall in some trash strewn alley, cornered by the toughest street gang on the east side._

"Look at the freaks!"

"What's with the dweeby costumes?"

"This ain't Halloween!"

"You're going down, freaks! Nobody messes with the Purple Dragons! Especially wearing stupid turtle costumes!"

 _He's wrong. We're not wearing costumes._

(!)

Deep below the streets of New York City, in a particular sewer tunnel, a gray rat the size of a man wearing a brown robe sat in darkness, holding a candle in one hand and a walking stick in another. He spoke in the voice of an old sage, "Remember, to be a true ninja, you must become one with the shadows. Darkness gives the ninja's powers, while light reveal the ninja's presence." He positioned himself, ready for an attack. "Now, can you extinguish this flame without revealing yourselves?"

A figure leaped, but the rat ducked. In the light, the figure was revealed to be a turtle the size of a teenager and walked on two legs. He was wearing a purple bandana mask over his eyes and had a wooden staff strapped to his back.

"Too noisy, Donatello," the rat said.

Another figure tried to grab the candle, but the rat tripped him with his staff. The figure was revealed to be another turtle, only this one was wearing an orange bandana and had a pair of nunchucks strapped to his belt. The turtle crashed into the first turtle and the two of them groaned.

"Too clumsy, Michelangelo," the rat said.

Another figure tried to sneak attack him, but the rat suddenly turned around and the figure gasped, exposed to the light. It was an African American boy about ten years old, wearing rags and carrying a pair of tonfas. The rat slammed the boy with his tail, making him collide into the other two turtles.

"Slow footwork, Dante," the rat said.

A third turtle, this one wearing a red bandana, appeared, and tried to grab the candle. The rat jumped out of the way and slowly walked out of reach. The turtle tried to attack with a pair of sai blades only to be slapped aside by the walking stick and crash into the other failures.

"Poor choice, Raphael," the rat said.

A fourth turtle, this one wearing a blue bandana, hid between the pipes on the ceiling until the rat was right under him. With a slash of his twin katana swords, he sliced the candle in half before catching it with one of his swords. He blew out the candle, ending the lesson. The rat turned on the lights. "Well done, Leonardo."

The other turtles and the boy picked themselves up from the dirt. "Ow," Dante groaned. "Did you have to be so rough, Master Splinter?"

"A little roughness must be a reminder of your failure," the rat, Splinter said.

Raphael growled at Leonardo. "Teacher's pet."

Leonardo made a smug smile as he tossed him the remains of the candle. "Ninja dropout."

"Oooh!" teased Donatello and Michelangelo.

Raphael crushed the candle and charged at Leonardo, but Splinter stopped him. "My sons!" The turtles and boy gathered round, sitting on their knees before the rat. "My sons, if you are to become true ninja, you must work harder." Michelangelo was distracted by a fly. "Your path in life will not be an easy one. The outside world will not be a friendly place for you. You five are different in ways the surface dwellers would never understand. To survive, you must master these skills I teach you: ninjutsu powers of stealth and secrecy. You must become kage, shadow warriors. And you must never be discovered by the outside world." Michelangelo grabbed the fly, making Splinter glare at him.

"But I am a surface dweller," Dante said. "I could walk about with the others."

"And I told you time and time again," Splinter said. "That there are people who will take advantage of you. Of small children unattended by an adult or older sibling."

Dante grumbled, "I'm not small."

Suddenly, there was a loud rumbling. "What is that noise?"

The whole tunnel started to shake.

Michelangelo exclaimed, "Whoa! Earthquake!"

Donatello, the genius of the family, speculated, "In New York? Possible, but not likely."

"It..." Dante stammered. "Must be a subway passing above us."

"Dante," Raphael said. "There's no subway line above us. And I know subways. Subways don't make the ground shake as bad as this!"

Suddenly, something burst out of the wall. An army of somethings. They looked like an army of robots the size of house cats with bear trap-like heads with a single glowing yellow eye and a pair of clawed-toed feet.

"What are those things?" exclaimed Leonardo.

"New York City cockroaches?" joked Michelangelo.

"Whatever they are," Raphael said, always ready for a challenge. "They picked the wrong party to crash!" He gave the closest robot a kick, sending it on its back. The others, perceiving the boys and rat a threat, attacked.

Donatello swung one robot away like a golf ball with his staff only for another to bite it down, so he smashed it like a hammer. Michelangelo smashed some with his nunchucks, and grabbed one. "Hey, Leo! Think fast!" He tossed it to Leonardo who slashed it with his swords.

Raphael and Dante were back to back, slashing and smashing the robots with their sai blades and tonfas respectively.

Then Leonardo saw the robots cornering Splinter, who was swatting them aside with his walking stick, which was stronger than it looked. "We got to help Master Splinter," he called to his brothers. They fought more robots, but then they were faced with another problem: the ceiling was collapsing on them!

"They're chewing through the support beams," Donatello reported.

It was too late to save Splinter; the rubble blocked the boys' way. Leonardo tried to dig through. "Master Splinter! Master Splinter! No!"

Dante tried to help. "No, no, no, no! Splinter! DAD!"

(!)

Enraged, Raphael stomped a surviving robot. "What the shell are those things?" wondered Michelangelo.

"Whatever they were," Raphael said, giving another robot a kick. "They're junk now."

"Guys," Leonardo said while he, Dante and Donatello tried to dig through the rubble. "Splinter. We've got to find Splinter! Master Splinter!"

Then Dante heard a beeping. He turned to face Donatello, who was fiddling with a small cellphone-like device the size of a shell. "Donny, what are you doing?"

"Shell cell. I'm calling Master Splinter."

A few seconds of ringing later, and Master Splinter's voice was heard on the other end. "Hmm. Which button do press to answer this thing?"

Everyone was both happy and relieved. Leo took the phone from Donny.

"Hello?"

"Master Splinter, are you all right?"

"Hello!"

"Master Splinter!"

"Stupid device."

"You don't have to press any buttons. You already answered it."

"Oh," Master Splinter said, embarrassed. He hated modern technology sometimes. "Leonardo, whatever those mechanical menaces are, they managed to eat through the support structure of our home. We must leave right away." Everyone gathered around Leo; Raph pushed Mikey out of the way. "Meet me at the old drainage junction at South Point."

Donatello pulled out a map. "If we take the south conduit, it'll intersect with the old drainage tunnel."

"We'll meet you there, Sensei," Leo said, hanging up before Mikey looked over his shoulder. "What did he say? What did he say? Did he mention me?"

"Yeah, that you are hard on hearing." joked Dante.

"HEY!"

Raph chuckled.

(!)

Mikey took one last goodbye to the tunnel they called home. "Goodbye broken pipe. Goodbye grungy pay phone. Goodbye dented manhole cover. Goodbye home sweet home."

"Hello cruel world," Raph said. "Come on!" And he dragged Mikey away.

The five boys walked down a series of tunnels; they could see tell tale signs that those little robots were here too. "Looks like those things have been through here," Leo said.

"And quite recently," Dante agreed.

Donny looked around. "These walls are seriously compromised. It's lucky this roof hasn't caved in yet." He and the other boys stopped dead in their tracks. Dead end.

"Spoke too soon, Donny," Dante said.

Leo shook his head. "Can't go forward, can't go back."

Raph eyed a ladder that led to a manhole cover. "Looks like we go up."

Leo stopped him before he could take a step. "Hitting the surface is a bad idea."

"We've got no other way to go Leo," Donny pointed out.

Leo sighed in defeat. "Alright, fine. But we're going up to go down the next manhole. Got it? No fooling around. Remember what Sensei said. It's dangerous for us to be seen, let alone captured. We need to stay out of sight!"

"We got it the first thousand times, Leo. Just follow my lead."

Raph was the first to exit followed by Dante. Leo was hesitant. "Come on, Leo, move it! I don't want to be staring at your butt any longer than I have to!"

Leo ignored Mikey's comment when he heard the sound of a scooter approaching. Raph pressed himself against an alley wall while Dante hid behind a box and Leo ducked back into the manhole. "I don't know why I have to hide," Dante grumbled. "I am human."

"Just remember," Leo said as he finally crawled out. "There will be people who will want to take advantage of you."

"How can I know who those kinds of people are if I haven't met any?"

"Just stay on our tails," Leo said with finality. The turtles and boy jumped over a bar canopy, slid under some cars and dashed across the street to where the manhole cover was. Only to find that Raph got there first, only he wasn't going anywhere. An armored truck was parked right above the manhole, one of its tyres blocking it. Raph gave it a kick, hurting his foot. Leo winced, "Way to be stealthy, Raph."

"Yeah," said Mikey. "I don't think they heard you over in Jersey."

"Give me a hand," Raph ordered, then added, "Don't even think about it, Mikey." Mikey frowned. "Ah, forget you guys! I'll push it myself."

Suddenly, someone was coming!

"Hide Raph, hide!" Leo hissed.

Raph looked left, then right, then dove into the back of the truck, much to everyone's frustration. "Poor choice, Raphael," Mikey quoted.

At that moment, a bunch of thugs with a purple dragon motif to their street clothes and tattoos came out carrying bags. They opened the back of the truck, not all the way though, thankfully. "Did you see the way that guy squirmed when we took his cash?"

"Sheep man. Sheep to be fleeced by us wolves."

When the thugs were finished loading the truck, they slammed the door, got in the cab and took off. Mikey peeked out from his and his brothers' hiding spot. "Aww man, imagine their surprise when they open the back of that truck."

Leo shook his head, "This is exactly what Master Splinter was talking about. We've got to get him out of there."

"Last one to the roof hatched from a rotten egg!" Donny called out. The four brothers used their parkour skills to climb all the way up to one of the buildings. From this height, they could see the truck driving away. "We can cut them off at third and first," Leo said.

"If we run like crazy." Donny said.

Mikey smiled. "Is there any other way to run?"

The boys followed the truck, still on the rooftops. Mikey got ahead of the other three. "Slow down, Mikey," Dante called out. "This isn't a race!"

"It just became one!" Mikey ran ahead before he looked back. "You guys are too slow!" He spoke too soon; Donny and Leo jumped over him and over the gap of two buildings. Mikey still had one thing to be happy about: if he couldn't beat them, he could beat Dante who was trying to keep up. Mikey slid over a roof and zip lined across a clothes line only to collide into someone's laundry and land on a roof. He sniffed the sheets. "Mmm, springtime fresh."

Dante smiled. He came in third place, then second after he passed Donny. He could never catch up to Raph, but since wasn't here, this was good. He was finally catching up to his older brothers.

(!)

The truck finally parked in an alley. Four of the gangsters got into one of the buildings. A fifth was about to enter, but one of them ordered, "Hey, Two-Ton, watch the truck. We wouldn't want somebody to steal our stolen money."

The big thug paced back in forth in front of the car until he felt someone tap him on the shoulder. When he looked behind him, he saw a young kid dressed in rags. "Hey, beat it, kid." He tapped the baseball bat he was carrying in his hand threateningly.

"Hey, this is a no parking zone," Dante said with feigned innocence. "Here's your ticket..." He kicked the thug between the legs, making him drop to his knees. "...and HERE'S your fine!" A smack upside the head with the tonfas knocked the thug out.

"Nice work," Leo commented.

"Thanks. Mikey came up with that line."

"And thank you for the credit," Mikey said with a smile.

"Now, let's get Raph out of there."

The boys got to the back of the car where Raph angrily banged against the door, shouting to be let out. Mikey saw just how advanced the lock was. "Man, whatever happened to good old fashioned padlocks?"

Donatello reached into the toolkit in his duffel bag and started to disassemble the lock. "Where's the fun in that? This one is all mine."

Raph continued to angrily bang against the interior of the car much to Mikey's pleasure. "What's that, Raphael? You're gonna have to speak up dude. I can't hear you." Raph kicked the door in frustration. "Okay, I heard that."

Donny stopped his progress for a brief moment to glare at Mikey, "I'm trying to work here." A few more clicks and the door was unlocked.

"Hey, Raph! Welcome back, bro...AAAAHH!" Before Mikey could finish his taunt, Raph charged out the door and tackled him to the ground.

"Remind me how you're related to that hothead," Dante asked, shaking his head. Suddenly, he heard a can get kicked. Someone was coming. And they knew they were here. "Raph, Mikey, you might want to stop fighting now."

"And why not?" asked Raph, who had Mikey pinned.

"Because we're not alone?" Mikey asked, getting out of Raph's grip.

The gang from earlier heard the noise and were advancing toward them. "Look at the freaks," they said. "What's with the dweeby costumes? This ain't Halloween!"

The frontman of the gang stepped forward and twirled a bat. "You're going down, freaks! Nobody messes with the Purple Dragons! Especially wearing stupid turtle costumes!"

Dante chuckled as he and his brothers readied their weapons. "We're not wearing costumes."

(!)

It was no contest really. The Purple Dragons were just a bunch of punks who thought that if they got their hands on weapons, they'd be experts instantaneously. Big mistake. The whole gang was tossed to the ground and their bodies were piled up. When they got up, they all made a hasty retreat.

The turtle brothers and Dante high fived each other. "Give me some green," Mikey cheered.

"Noggin!" Dante called out. He and Mikey head butte each other lightly. "Duuude," they both said, almost sounding like surfers.

Donny sniffed. "Well, that was easier than expected."

Raph huffed with pride. "I hope there are more of those guys, I'm just getting warmed up."

The shadows of multiple people loomed over the five boys. Mikey gulped. "Uh, well, looks like you got your wish, Raphie boy."

All over the roofs surrounding the alley were multiple people wearing black outfits with armored vests, black masks with yellow lenses and on their chests was a symbol of a three-toed dragon's foot. Leonardo gasped at the figures. "Are those guys...ninjas?"

The figures jumped down and circled the boys. "Well, they certainly seem ninja-esque," Mikey gulped.

"Be ready for everything," warned Leo.

"I am so going to enjoy this," smirked Raph.

(!)

Donny was the first to attack. First, he pole vaulted over the group and blocked a couple of blows before sweeping the ninjas off their feet with his staff.

Raph found himself caught in the middle of a circle of three attacking ninjas. "Nice dragon kick. Yeah, sweet double phoenix punch. Hey, ya' know this one?" A triple flying kick knocked all three ninjas out.

Leonardo clashed swords with one ninja, only to find himself fighting two on the canopy of the building.

Mikey swatted one ninja with his nunchucks, and hit another trying to sneak up behind him.

Dante clashed tonfas with another ninja. So far, he was winning until another ninja snuck up behind him and threw shuriken at his back. Thankfully, Donny blocked them just in time with his bo staff. "Thanks, Don," Dante said. Unfortunately, the ninja he was clashing with saw this as an opportunity to kick him into the face and send him flying into the side of the truck. Soon, even Donny and Mikey were cornered. "Don, are we beating them, or are they beating us?" A bunch of throwing stars were thrown at them, but Donny blocked them with the truck's door.

"Ask me again when we're winning, Mikey."

"Yeah, that's what I thought."

"You ask me," Dante said, rubbing the soreness on his head. "I think it's time for a tactical retreat."

Donny looked at the truck, then started to pull out the wire. "Do you even know how to hot wire a truck?"

"Piece of cake," Donny said, fiddling with the wires. "Cover me!"

Dante kicked two ninjas between the legs before smashing them with his tonfas. Another snuck up on him and started squeezing him. Thinking fast, Dante bit down on his arm, releasing his grip and leaving him distracted enough for Dante to kick him in the face. But he was starting to get tired. Soon, Raph, Leo and Mikey were helping him, but even they had limits and the ninjas just kept coming in greater numbers.

"How many of these goons do we have to bop before they get the hint?" asked Raph.

"Really," said Mikey. "They just keep coming."

Leo turned to the turtle genius. "Time to switch to plan B. Donatello?"

"Almost there, Leo." A second later, the engine turned on. "This bus is now leaving for anywhere but here!"

The turtles and Dante hopped into the back of the truck. Donny put the petal to the metal and drove through the crowd of ninjas, scattering them like roaches. "Slow down, Donny," called out Dante as he and the three turtles bounced around. "The back doors are open and this rig doesn't exactly have SEAT BELTS BACK HERE!"

"Relax. We're far away from them. We'll park here." Donny found a place to park and Raph shut the door.

With the truck far from the ninjas, Donny drove the truck to the speed limit. Mikey scratched the back of his head, confused. "I gotta tell you, this has been one mondo bizzaro day. First all those metal robot things underground and . . . what's with all those ninjas? Ninjas in New York City, besides us? It's just not right."

Dante kicked a duffel bag the Purple Dragons left in the truck. "That's not the only thing that's not right." He opened one of them, revealing loads of dollar bills.

"Show me the money, baby!" Mikey cheered.

Leo took it back from him. "This isn't finders' keepers, Mikey." When they found a police car, Leo took all the duffel bags of money and tossed them onto the hood of the car. "Take care of this money, will you guys?" Then they took off.

"Aren't you worried that two cops just saw four giant talking turtles toss bags of money out the window?" Dante asked.

"Nah," Raph said. "They'll probably think they ate too many donuts."

(!)

The boys drove through a tunnel until they reached the drainage junction where a familiar rat was sitting and meditating. Dante was the first to get out and the first to give Master Splinter a hug. "Oh, dad! You're safe." Master Splinter returned the hug.

"Well, I'm glad to see you too, my sons."

"Master Splinter, so much has happened today," said Leo.

"Yes, yes, there will be time to tell me all about it later, Leonardo. But first, I wish to take you all home." The rat walked toward a hole in the floor, but he stopped when he saw the sad looks on the boys' faces.

"Home?" asked Mikey.

Raph painfully reminded Master Splinter, "We got no home. Those robots trashed our pad, remember Sensei?"

The rat smiled. "Do not worry. I think I have found a solution to our current housing problem. Follow me my sons." And he jumped down the hole. Leo was the first to follow the rat, then Donny. Mikey paused and was about to shout, "Cowabunga!" but Raph pushed him. "Not funny, Raph!"

"Oh, yes it is." He jumped down the hole with Dante being last.

(!)

The hole turned into a slide that led to another tunnel.

"No offense Master Splinter, but this place doesn't seem so great."

"Look with your heart Michelangelo, and not eyes."

Mikey paused for thought. "Um, okay."

"And walk this way." Mikey imitated Splinter's cane-assisted walk only to be whacked upside the head by Raph borrowing Donny's bo staff.

(!)

The tunnel led to the most amazing thing the boys had ever seen: a spacious chamber made up of a mortar and metal of unknown material and with multiple upper and lower rooms. There was a hole in the middle of the floor that probably led to another part of the sewer and there were pipes all around. Despite the fact that the place was a mess and hadn't been touched for some time, it was definitely a place to call home. The boys oohed and awed at the place.

"This is beyond awesome!" Mikey exclaimed.

"I could really tune this space up," Donny reported.

Mikey was already calling dibs on rooms. "This room here, mine." He pointed to a door Raph was standing by. "And where you're standing, also mine." Raph frowned in annoyance.

"You see my sons, change is good," Splinter said.

Leo put a hand on his shoulder. "We couldn't agree more, Master Splinter."

"Good, so let's see you boys clean up for a change. This chamber is filthy."

Dante whined, "Hey, that's not fair, Master Splinter! You haven't done anything!"

"Whatever do you mean? I already did my share of the cleaning before you got here."

The boys groaned.

(!)

In his lair, Oroku Saki sipped his tea. He was accompanied by a large blonde-haired man with a scarred cheek and a tattoo of a purple dragon coiled around one arm and one of a three toed dragon foot on another. Saki listened to the Purple Dragons leader currently explaining his story about the missing money with a stuttering, afraid voice. "Sir, I . . . I uh, my men, we uh, we lost the armored car with the money. But we were attacked . . . by a kid in rags and some sort of karate frog creatures or something. They took us by surprise. It – it wasn't my fault."

Saki stood up. "Enough!"

"I promise sir, I won't fail you again."

"I know. You won't fail me again. EVER!"

The large man silently watched as Saki executed the pleading man right on the spot.


	2. Chapter 2

_May not look like much, but this tin toy can chomp his way through steel and concrete like Michelangelo through a pizza. A bunch of these Mouser robots saw fit to trash our old lair and nearly turned our sensei into robo chow. I look at these incredible machines and the techno geek in me can't help thinking 'awesome.' But the ninja in me can't help thinking 'payback'._

(!)

It had been hours since the turtles, the rat and the boy moved into the new lair after their home was destroyed by little robots with bear traps for heads. The boys were putting up the finishing touches to their new home. Already the place was sparkling clean, Master Splinter had just finished building a bridge over the hole and with Donny's help, filled said hole, turning it into a small pool. Dante was helping Donny and Mikey set up a bunch of TVs while Spinter sat on a couch and and built a stuffed fighting dummy. Mikey groaned as he set up the thirteenth TV.

"What's the matter, Mikey?" Donny called out. He was finishing welding a pipe in place. "Can't decide what to watch?"

"I need more power, captain!" Mikey said, imitating one of those characters from Star Trek. "The Turtle Cave must be set for maximum entertainment potential." He plugged the TVs on, but when he turned on the power button on the remote, all he got was static. Mikey groaned in disappointment as he turned them off.

"The Turtle Cave?" questioned Donny. "That is so lame."

"What would you call our new digs? The Shell-ter?"

Donny thought about it then suggested, "How about The Sewer Of Solitude?"

"No," Dante said. "How about the Sceptic Tank?"

"Ew," Mikey gagged. "No. Terrapin Station is better and not as gross."

"The School Of Gifted Reptiles?" asked Donny.

"The Hall Of Ninjustice!"

Splinter cleared his throat, deciding to end the debate. "We will call this place Home."

Mikey thought it over. "Home. Catchy.

"Now, what is keeping Leonardo and Raphael?"

"They're getting the stuff from our old lair," Dante replied. "And they're testing that new sewer slider Donny made."

"Speaking of which," Donny said as he messed around with spare robot parts in the work area he set up. "They'll be back any second now." A part suddenly gave out sparks, surprising him. Master Splinter looked over his shoulder. "Even though it is inactive, that thing still makes me uneasy, Donatello."

"This is state of the art robotics, Sensei," Donny said. "Brilliant work. I just gotta know what makes it tick."

The Sewer Slider, a machine resembling a cross between a go-cart and an air boat, suddenly arrived and hovered down to the ground. Raph and Leo hopped out and unpacked a load of cargo tied to the vehicle. Leo handed Mikey a boxful of DVDs, VHS tapes and comics. "Hey, good news, Mikey! Your movie collection survived."

Mikey was giddy. "Awesome! Let's throw in something light on the story and heavy on the gory. Cause the video monolith is ready to rock n' roll!" He flipped on the TV, unintentionally turning on the news.

"In a press conference today at Stock-Tronic Enterprises, New York's leading technology firm..."

Mikey droned, "Boring!" and was about to turn off the TV when Donny called out, "Wait! I want to see this!"

"...Founder and CEO Doctor Baxter Stockman was on hand to unveil his latest innovation."

The TV footage cut to two people: the first was an African American man wearing thick glasses and a white lab coat, the other was a younger, skinnier caucasian woman with red hair tied up in a bun and also wearing a lab coat. The man, Dr. Baxter Stockman, said to the cameras as he cleaned his glasses before putting them back on, "A wise man once said, 'Build a better mousetrap and the world will a path to your door.' I say, let the path seeking begin! For I, Doctor Baxter Stockman, have designed the solution to the city's ever growing rat problem." He pulled the cloth on a table and, to the boys and Splinter's horror, unveiled a small robot with no arms, two legs with claw-like toes and a head resembling a bear trap. "Ladies and gentlemen," Stockman continued. "I give you the ultimate expression of rodent extermination technology, the Stock-Tronics Mouser!" The very same robot that, not long ago, had trashed their home.

"He did it," Dante said in anger. "He sent those robots to destroy our home." He looked at the TVs and at Stockman's face. "Why did you do it, Baxter?"

Donny looked at the Mouser head he was currently tinkering with. "I can't believe that the famous Baxter Stockman would try to pass off these killer robots as a good thing."

Mikey took the head from him. "Yeah, and what's up with those glasses?" He moved the head's mouth like a puppet and made a silly voice, "Dork city!"

Raph growled in anger and stabbed one of the TVs with one of his sai blades. "I say we head over to Stock-Tronics and kick some serious shell!" He was stopped immediately by Master Splinter who whacked him on the head with his walking stick. "Absolutely not! Your last venture to the surface was a disaster! You cannot ill-afford to be seen by more humans."

Stockman continued the interview, "My lab assistant, Miss April O'Neil, will release several rats into the simulation chamber. April, proceed my dear." The red head, April, took a box of rats and gently set them down into a maze. Next, Stockman put the Mouser in the maze. "Now observe the sheer genius of my Mouser in action." It was a pretty graphic sight to have to watch the sharp-toothed robot find and tear apart every rat it found.

"Oh man," Mikey groaned as he and his brothers cringed. "I sure hate to be a rat in this town." Dante elbowed him. "Oh. Sorry, Sensei."

Stockman's interview resumed as he picked up the Mouser and pointed to its blinking yellow eye. "And the Mouser's search and retrieval functions are ingeniously controlled by a remote mother computer." Dante turned off the TV, not wanting to hear anymore.

"Master," Dante said. "Why can't we? Aside from getting caught, what other reason is there to not go topside and put an end to the Mousers for destroying our home?"

"Because vengeance is not the path of a true ninja. When a mind is motivated by revenge, it clouds their judgement and will hurt others in the process." He looked up at Raph. "You are listening to this as well, Raphael?"

"Yeah, yeah..."

"Now my sons," Splinter said. "Unload the rest of our belongings from the Sewer Slider. We will resume training once we have made our home feel more like home."

Dante was about to help Mikey with a new TV to replace the one Raph destroyed (which he figured was going to happen a lot), when his eyes gazed on Donny working on the broken Mouser at his work station and he remembered three words spoken by Stockman. "'Search and retrieval.' Hmm..." He walked over to the genius turtle. "Hey, Donny, I've been thinking..."

"Isn't that _my_ department?"

"Well, yeah. But I thought, can you somehow use that search and retrieval function to locate Stockman?"

"Well, I could. But I'm not going to be part of some hair-brained revenge scheme."

"We're not," Dante said, turning to face the TVs. "I have a feeling the teeth on those robots weren't meant for chewing up rats. If they could eat their way through stone and steel, then who knows what they're really meant for?"

Donny scratched his chin. "You do have a point. But...a certain rat sensei might disapprove this."

Dante put a hand on his shoulder. "I know you want to stop Stockman too. And so do Mikey and Leo. Just not the...er, the Raph way."

"I do want to. That's why we do it the subtle way."

"The Donny way."

(!)

It was weapons practice time. Everyone surrounded Master Splinter, weapons at the ready. Donny was the first to attack. He swung with his bo staff, but Splinter blocked each attack before he smacked him on the shell with his walking stick. "Do not lean on your shoulders, Donatello." Leo jumped for an airborne attack, but Splinter easily swatted him away. "Faster on your counterattack, Leonardo." Mikey charged, spinning his nunchucks, but Splinter easily tripped him. "Mind your footwork, Michelangelo." Dante tried to use a flying kick and tonfa combo, and while he managed to knock the walking stick aside, Splinter sideswiped him with his tail, sending him on his back. "You left yourself wide open, Dante." Raph tried to attack, but Splinter quickly picked up the walking stick and knocked both weapons out the turtle's hands before pinning him to a column. "You are distracted, Raphael. You must learn to focus your attacks." He released him.

Raph brushed himself off. "I'd like to focus my attacks on that Stockman guy." He asked as Splinter retreated to his room, "Why can't we just go topside and show him a little mean and green?"

"Because I forbid it!" the rat answered. He continued to his room. "We will resume your training in the morning." And he closed the Japanese sliding door to his room.

"Heh," chuckled Mikey. "'We will resume your training in the morning.'" he imitated Splinter.

"I heard that."

"Busted!" Donny teased.

"I'd like to bust a few heads," Raph growled in impatience.

Mikey tried to persuade him to stay, "Chill, bro. We don't need no stinking surface world." He walked over to the TVs and flipped them on. "We've got late movies, top ten video countdowns, BMX burn highlights..." He realized what was on and raised an eyebrow in confusion. "Some weird Korean language soap opera?"

"Or," Donny said as he got to work on the Mouser. "You could give me a hand with these Mouser parts. If I can get one working, we can track it to its source to find out what Stockman's really using them for."

Raph yawned. "Nah, I'm beat. I'm gonna rack." He walked to his room.

Leo raised an eyebrow. "Since when does Raph turn in early?"

"And that," Dante pointed out. "Has got to be the fakest yawn I have ever heard."

(!)

Dante awoke with a start. Had he actually fallen asleep at the dinner table? "Hey guys, I got one working!" he heard Donny yell. With ninja instinct, he woke up and chased after Donny and Mikey, who were chasing after a repaired Mouser. "Hurry up, guys," called out Mikey. "He's faster than he looks!" They ran past Raph and Leo, who were fighting each other on the floor, obviously so that the former can get past the latter. They both stopped fighting and chased after their brothers.

(!)

The boys followed the Mouser through a part of the sewer where they walked across a pipe like a bridge. Leo warned, "Watch your step here, guys. Don't wanna end up as turtle soup." Dante looked down and saw a large pool of sewage far below. He gasped until Raph nudged him to move forward. All was going well until the Mouser started to climb up a wall at the other end of the pipe with its clawed feet. "Resourceful little critter," Donny groaned.

"So what do we do now?" asked Raph.

"Like Master Splinter always says," Leo said as he put on a pair of shuko spikes. He handed more pairs to his brothers. "A ninja is always prepared."

"I thought that was the Boy Scouts," said Mikey.

The brothers scaled the wall with the spikes. Although they never thought the robot would still climb after so long. "Next time, let's leave the wall crawling to the dude in the blue and red tights," Mikey groaned.

"You read WAY too many comic books," Leo said.

Finally, the Mouser and the boys climbed to the top and walked through a tunnel. "Just curious, Don," Mikey said. "What's to stop old turbo jaws from munching up another 6.5 on the Richter scale?"

"I shut down its jaws servers. It couldn't even chew through a stick of gum." Donny was proven wrong when the Mouser ate its way through a wall of pipes. Dante looked up at Donny with a raised eyebrow. "Couldn't chew it's way through a stick of gum, eh?"

"But I...I was sure I shut it down!"

"Don's finally lost his techno mojo," Mikey joked. "Sad really."

"It must have some kind of security override. Come on."

Dante got to the hole first. "This is big enough for me to squeeze through. I'll see you on the other side."

"Wait," Leo called out. "You don't know where that leads!" Too late, Dante was already crawling through.

"The kid's worse than Raph," Mikey muttered.

Then there was a loud creaking sound. Donny looked up and gasped. "Oh, no!"

"What is it, Don?" asked Leo.

"If I'm not mistaken, that's a serious water main hanging right over our heads!"

Raph tilted his head. "So?"

"So, our little Mouser friend just ate right through the pipe's support!"

A torrent of water suddenly burst through the pipe, catching the turtles in its wake.

(!)

"I'm starting to think," Dante muttered as the Mouser kept on running and eating through more walls, leading him to a subway line. "That you're stalling. I'm pretty sure Stock-Tronics isn't this far."

"There!" he heard Donny shout.

"Huh?" Distracted, Dante lost track of the Mouser for a brief moment, but he found it again, riding the back of a passing subway train. "Oh, great!" He shouted at his brothers on the other side of the train tracks. "I had him too!"

"Two can play at that game," Raph called out, pointing to another approaching train. The boys hopped onto one of the coaches' roofs. It was then that Dante noticed how wet the turtles were. "Dude, what happened to you?"

"We were surfing in the sewer," Raph said sarcastically. "We almost got washed away back there!"

"How was I supposed to know, huh?"

"Next time don't go wandering off!"

"Or what? I end up looking like..." Dante trailed off when he saw the Mouser jump off the train ahead of them and walk off. "There's our stop!"

(!)

The Mouser led the boys to another chamber. Mikey blinked. Was he seeing double? "Whoa. Who invited him?" The other Mouser snarled and leaped at him.

"I got this," Raph called out, throwing a shuriken. It struck the other Mouser, and it fell to the floor. Mikey and Raph high fived, but their celebration was cut off when the Mouser got back up.

"This is not good guys," Leo muttered.

"Neither is that!" Donny pointed to another tunnel where a whole swarm of Mousers were coming. "These chrome domes are tougher than the last batch!"

"And there's more of them too," Raph growled. "Great. Just great."

Left with no choice, the boys fought their way through the crowd of Mousers, yet more of them kept coming. And they seemed to have a higher intelligence than the last batch. "These Mousers are incredible! The servo mechanics! The circuitry! The articulation!"

Raph stabbed a pair of Mousers as he said, "Jeez, Donny, why don't you just marry one already?"

"Yeah," Dante said, kicking a Mouser off from biting one of his tonfas. "You can have your nerd love later!" Suddenly he went bug eyed and he ran around in circles. "OW! It's biting me on the butt! Get it off! Get it off!"

"Hold still!" Dante stopped running and stood in place, squirming in pain. Leo sliced the Mouser's head off, and the jaws' grip loosened. "Thanks," Dante whimpered. "I think I'm going to need stitches."

"Guys," Leo called out. "The only way to stop them is to slice their heads off!"

"Well, ain't that great news?" Mikey said sarcastically. "For the turtles with the blades!"

"Drive them this way," Raph suggested, impaling another Mouser. "We'll slice and dice."

Donny, Mikey and Dante smacked the Mousers to Leo and Raph who proceeded to chop and stab them until there was nothing left but scrap metal.

"Great job, guys," congratulated Donny. "Just make sure we leave one..." Raph stabbed the last one. "...in tact."

"Uh, Raph," Dante said. "I think that was the one we were following."

"So much for tracing them back to the source," Leo muttered as he sheathed his swords.

Suddenly, there was a loud scream. The boys looked down one of the tunnels. "Someone's in trouble!" Dante took off running toward the sound of the screaming.

"Dante, stop!" Leo called out, but he was gone.

"Ah, shell," Raph grumbled. "Can't help but play the hero. You're worse than Mikey."

"Hey!"

(!)

Dante followed the screaming until he came across the source: a woman cornered by five Mousers. "Over here, guys! And there's plenty of Mouser butt for everyone to slice!"

The turtle brothers found Dante and the woman and they made short work of the robots. Dante put his tonfas away and helped the frightened woman to her feet. "It's okay. You're safe." He took a good look at the woman. "Hey, you're that woman from the TV interview! You're Ms. O'Neil!"

"Wha...?" April took a look at her "hero". "You...? But...you're just a kid. You saved me?"

"Hey, I'm more than a kid. Besides, don't give me all the credit." He pointed behind him. "My brothers helped me out."

April looked behind the kid and saw four figures. Then one of them approached her and said a very friendly, "Hey. How're you doing?" She fainted on the spot when she saw the giant turtle. Mikey quickly grabbed her before she could fall in the water. "Hey, so...can I keep her?"

Dante blinked. "Do you think she's a dog?"


	3. Chapter 3

_"A very wise frog once said, 'It's not easy being green,' but believe me, he didn't know the half of it. In the past 48 hours my brothers and I have been attacked by killer robots, had our home caved in on us, and had a serious butt-kicking ninja battle with some deadly ninja assassins. We made a shell raising escape in an armored car, found a new place to live..."_

"This is beyond awesome!"

 _"...and were attacked by even more killer robots. Oh, and we also managed to perform our very first ninja rescue. This is the closest any of us have ever been to a human being aside from Dante, and it raises one very big question: Can we keep her?"_

"Do you think she's a dog?"

(!)

April O'Neil stirred in her sleep before waking up. "Oh, man. What a dream! Turtles fighting robots? Did I fall asleep watching TV again? That was the..." She realized she wasn't alone. "weirdest thing..." She was becoming afraid. "...I have ever..." Mikey gave her a wink. "...SEEN!"

Mikey introduced himself. "Hi."

"AAAAAAHHHH!"

"AAAAAAHHHH!" Mikey panted, feeling his heart jump. "Please don't do that! I almost jumped out of my shell!"

When April saw his hands, she flipped. "It...has...three fingers!" She buried her face in the pillow and chanted, "I'm asleep, I'm asleep, I'm asleep, I'm asleep, I'm asleep..."

Donny shook his head. "This isn't going very well."

Mikey turned to him. "Hey, come on! We don't have much practice talking to humans. It's gonna take a little time." Dante crossed his arms and tapped his foot. "Oh, right. Well, you don't count." Dante narrowed his eyes. "Well, have you ever spoken to anyone of your kind before?"

"I will kick you between the legs while you're asleep."

April peaked her head out. "I am SO asleep! I'm asleep, I'm asleep, I'm asleep, I'm asleep..."

Mikey yawned suddenly. "Man, she's making _me_ sleepy."

Raph had had enough of this. He tapped April on the shoulder and said, "Hey, you. What do you know of those Mouser robot things?"

April calmed down. "Well, at first I thought they were for cleaning up the city's rat problem. But hen I got suspicious when Dr. Stockman said..." She blinked, realizing, "Oh no! I'm talking to it!"

Leo asked, "What?"

"I'm talking to it! To you!" She smiled, as though she had broke. "Okay, April. You're talking to a giant, three-fingered turtle. The only logical explanation is you're dreaming! So everything's okay!" She waved. "Hello!"

"Hello...April...how are you doing?"

April looked as though she had gone insane. "Oh, I'm fine! Everything's absolutely great!" She laughed, but then gasped when she saw Splinter. "Then perhaps you are ready to answer some questions," he said.

April's eye twitched. "You're...you're a..." She fainted.

"And we just woke her up," Dante groaned.

"You sure have a way with the ladies, Master Splinter," Donny said sarcastically. "Now what do we do?"

"Let's nudge her," Leo said.

"I'll snap her out of it," Raph said.

"Raphael, no!" shouted Splinter.

Mikey walked over to a nearby table and turned a walkman on. "Ugh. Somebody get me when she wakes up."

(!)

It took several minutes for April to wake up only this time she was greeted by Dante. "So," he said. "Are you ready to accept that my brothers, my father and I are real or are you just going to pass out again?"

"Your...father?"

"The rat. Master Splinter."

April blinked. "You have a rat for a father? Where's the mother?" Dante looked down sadly. "Oh. I'm sorry."

"What? No. We never had a mother. Well, I did, but Master Splinter told me she and my real dad dumped me when I was a baby on somebody's doorstep. But they didn't know that the occupants of that particular home had already left. And then Splinter found me."

April gasped. "And he took you in?"

"Not at first. He wanted to take me to an orphanage, but, well, let's just say I started an argument over whether I should go or stay. Long story short, I won the argument. I stayed."

"Yeah," Raph said as he and his brothers and Splinter walked over to the two humans. "And I was stuck with diaper duty!"

"At least you didn't get vomit all over your shell," shuddered Mikey. "I still have nightmares."

"Splinter did say it was a lesson on responsibility," Donny said.

"Now, Miss O'Neil," Splinter said, offering her a cup of tea. "I believe we have some explaining to do."

April looked to Dante, who assured, "It's not poisonous if that's what you think."

And with that, April accepted the tea. "So," said Mikey. "You okay now?"

"Yes," said April. "Thanks. I've decided that this is either a very long dream that I keep not waking up from or it's the weirdest thing that ever happened to me."

"Young woman," Splinter said. "We have something most important to discuss."

"What?"

"We have never revealed ourselves to the upper world. You have placed us all in great danger."

"But," Leo defended her. "Master Splinter. She was in trouble and we helped her."

"Yeah," said Raph. "Aren't you always teaching us to always do the right thing?"

Splinter said, "As you grow older, you will learn there are many ways to 'do the right thing.'" He looked down. "But there is no going back." He faced April again. "I'm afraid we find ourselves at your mercy."

April said, waving a hand defensively. "No, I would never tell anybody! I mean, who would believe me?"

"She's got a point," Donny said.

"Yeah," said Mikey. "We're unbelievable!" he sang.

"Jeez," groaned Raph. "Where's your off switch?"

"He doesn't have any," Dante chuckled.

"Seriously," said April. "I promise." Master Splinter got up from his seat and looked right into the woman's eyes. After a few seconds, he concluded, "I believe you."

"Is this another lesson, Master Splinter?" asked Leo. "How to sense the truth?"

"No. This is trusting your gut."

"So," said April, curious. "If I'm keeping your secret, what exactly is it? Who are you people, er, turtles, er, whatever?"

"I have memories," Splinter said. "Memories of what you might call 'normal'. I remember. A day that started like any other. But ended changing the course of many lives. I witnessed an accident. A young boy carried a glass jar with four pet infant turtles. An old blind man was crossing the street. When he was almost run down by a large truck. Someone pushed him out of the way, but in the process, made the boy drop his pets down the sewer drain.

"As the truck swerved, a metal canister bounced out of the back. It went down the same sewer the turtles fell in. It smashed open, releasing a glowing ooze which covered their bodies. I took pity, gathering them up in a coffee can. In the process, I too contacted the ooze. I took them to my burrow. The next morning, I awoke to find the four had doubled in size! The ooze had affected their growth. It changed me also, making me larger and more intelligent.

"They followed me everywhere, except above ground. I knew the people of the surface would not understand. We are so...different. I was amazed by their dexterity. But even so, I was not prepared for what happened one day. They actually spoke! My name! Soon they all were speaking. Intelligence followed soon after.

"Realizing that the world above is sometimes a dangerous place, I began teaching them ninjutsu, the secret arts of stealth and power and all that I knew of this world. From a battered book on Renaissance arts that I fished out of the storm drain, I chose names for each of them. Leonardo. Donatello. Raphael. Michelangelo. And together they are..."

The turtle brothers high fived each other. "Turtles forever!" they cheered at once.

"Or," Mikey said to April. "Something like that that we all yell at once."

"First rule," said Raph. "Ignore Mikey. Your life will be much easier."

"Wait," said April, turning to the only other human in the room. "You never mentioned your name."

"My name is Dante."

"Like Dante Alighieri? The writer of Divine Comedy? It does match the whole Renaissance motif to your names."

Dante pulled a necklace with his own name and a date on it: 8/21. "No. That was the name Splinter found that I have."

"So we have remained in secret," concluded Splinter. "And that is our story."

"But how did you know martial arts?" asked April.

"That is a story for another time."

Mikey turned on the TV, deciding to watch some cartoons, but what he got was a very attention-grabbing news report. "Hey, guys! Look at this!"

"...and the police are completely baffled by this daring bank robbery boldly executed in broad daylight. If anyone has any information, police urge you to call the crime stoppers hotline."

"So," Mikey said when the news showed still images of a large hole in the middle of the empty bank vault and sets of two-toed foot prints leaving and entering said hole. "Anybody want to take a wild guess what did THIS?"

(!)

April's eyes widened when she saw the footage. "This must be what I heard Dr. Stockman talking about! He's got the Mousers robbing banks!"

"What do you know about this Stockman guy?" asked Raph.

"He's a genius He's also nuts! I used to work for him, but when I got suspicious, he turned the Mousers on me! Luckily I ran into you guys!"

Leo confirmed everyone's suspicions, "He destroyed our old lair!"

"Must have been one of his Mouser test runs."

"Makes sense," Dante said, twirling one of his tonfas. "Who would suspect a bunch of killer little robots are running around in an abandoned sewer line?"

"But," Mikey said. "That was our home!"

"Now he's graduated to banks," said Donny.

"Then what are we waiting for?" Raph asked as he twirled his sai blades. "I say we shut down Mouser Central permanently!"

Mikey laughed, "I just love those action movie lines. You write those yourself?"

April tapped her chin. "It won't be easy. Stock-Tronics is rigged to the up-to-the-minute security tech."

Mikey dragged Donny over. "Heh, bring it on! Allow me to introduce our own secret weapon! The techno turtle himself, Donatello! Take a bow, Don!"

Donny rubbed the back of his head, blushing. "Cut it out."

"Can..." Raph growled, his patience waning. "We...go...please?"

(!)

April led the boys through the sewer tunnel she had ran from much earlier when escaping the Mousers. Suddenly, she stopped and gestured for Donny to come with her. On the wall, they saw a circular device planted in the wall. Carefully, Donny removed the cover, exposing the wires and circuits.

"Alarms in the sewers?" joked Mikey. "Is this guy paranoid or what?"

"Will you shut it," hissed Raph.

"I'm just saying."

Donny said, while helping April with the alarm. "Could April and I have some quiet? This is delicate work!"

"Ooh! 'April and I! This is delicate work!' Give me a break."

(!)

Silently, April opened an air vent. Sure enough, the tunnel they had walked through led to a lower floor of Stock-Tronics. "Is this the place?" Raph asked.

"There's a computer terminal in that lab." April pointed to a door across the hall. "Get me in and I can create blank spots in the security system to get you through to Dr. Stockman's main lab."

"Don't look now, we already got a blank spot right here."

"Must you be so mean to Mikey?" Dante asked.

Raph silently picked the lock to the door allowing April and the others in. April did some computer work and hacked her way into the Stock-Tronics security system. "Okay," she said. "I'm in. I'm blanking the cameras along that corridor at ten second intervals so you've got to keep moving."

"We'll be right back," Leo said.

"Good luck," April said. When she got no response, she turned around; the turtles and Dante were gone. "Hey, these guys are good!"

(!)

The boys ran down the main hall, counting down the ten seconds they had until they finally reached the main lab. The room was spacious, dark, and silent. However, they could make out the silhouettes of various lab equipment. The boys walked in, weapons at the ready. "This is too quiet," Leo said.

Dante suddenly shivered. "Dude, that's the LAST thing you want to say in a suspenseful moment like this! Don't you watch those monster movies Mikey loves?"

"Uh, guys," Mikey said, getting a bad feeling. "My turtle sense is tingling!" He was right about the danger. The door they came in slammed shut and the lights turned on.

"Intruders!" shouted a voice. The boys looked up and saw the owner of the voice behind a windowed balcony: Baxter Stockman himself. "Here to steal my secrets?! You'll leave here with nothing! Not even your lives." He was curious about their appearance however. "What on earth are you?" With a wicked smile, he decided to find answers the easy way and pressed a button. "I suppose I'll have to dissect you to find out."

Robot arms with laser turrets popped out of the ceiling and aimed at the boys. When they fired, they were forced to either duck behind pillars or dodge. Mikey dodged in the form of a break dance. Dante hid behind a pile of pipes. Raph however was running from two lasers and when Leo saw this, he jumped in the laser's path, blocking and redirecting the lasers right back at the turret. Donny, however, jumped onto one turret and took control of it after a little rewiring here and there. He used the turret to fire at the other lasers, then once the job was complete, he overloaded the turret he was riding on and it exploded.

The boys raced toward the balcony. Dante cried out, "Raph, give me a boost!" Raph got on all fours and Dante hopped off his back and crashed through the window. He cornered Stockman, whacked him to the ground with one of his tonfas and grabbed him by the collar. "Come here, you!"

"Don't touch me, you filthy vagabond!"

The turtles jumped through the hole Dante made and Leo pointed at the mad scientist. "Your reign of terror is over, Stockman!"

"You been practicing that?" asked Mikey.

"You like it?"

Stockman squirmed out of Dante's grip and backed away. "What are you?!"

"They're my brothers," Dante replied.

The elevator door opened and April stepped out. "And they're with me!"

Stockman's eyes widened. "April! You're alive!"

"And kicking!" Stockman backed away to a control pad as she said, "I've got enough evidence to put you away for years Dr. Stockman!"

When Raph saw him press a button, he grabbed him. "That's enough!"

"Ha! Too late! I've recalled the Mouser horde from their latest mission! They'll be here any second! They'll tear you to pieces!"

Donny turned to April. "April?"

"I'll have to shut the whole system down." She sat down and pressed a few keyboard buttons.

"You're doomed," Stockman said with mad glee. "Listen."

Hundreds of Mousers suddenly burst through the air vents and doors, all of them heading toward the balcony.

"April," said Leo, worried. "Now's the time!"

She growled in frustration. "The system isn't responding!"

Stockman saw his chance and ran for the elevator. "You should never have matched wits with me!"

Mikey ran after him, but the doors closed. "He's getting away!"

"Let him go," Raph said grimly. "We got bigger problems." The Mousers burst through the windows of the balcony and snapped their jaws at the turtles and humans. "At least we'll go out fighting."

"Actually," said Mikey. "I don't wanna go out at all!"

April was becoming frantic. "It's not working!"

"Keep trying!" Encouraged Donny.

"This is it," said Raph. "It's been fun, guys!"

"Even me, Raph?"

"Even you, Mikey. Especially you."

One Mouser leaped toward Dante who closed his eyes, waiting for the lethal bite. When he heard a clunk, he opened his eyes. The Mouser had stopped dead along with all the others. He sighed in relief while his brothers cheered. "Good job, April," applauded Donny. "I've never seen anything like it!"

Mikey picked one up. "Heh, losers!"

That's when Dante saw the worried look on April's face. "What's wrong?"

"I...I wasn't able to shut them down."

Mikey looked the Mouser he was holding over. "They look pretty shut down to me."

"The only way I could stop them was by initiating an overload sequence!" At that last word, all the Mousers' eyes turned red and smoke came out of their bodies. Mikey tossed the Mouser he was holding and yelled, "In other words, LET'S GET OUT OF HERE!"

The boys and April escaped the lab and into the sewers, but they could still feel the explosion.

(!)

Back in the lair, the boys, Splinter and April watched the news. "...and the authorities are still completely perplexed by the destruction of the Stock-Tronics building and the sudden disappearance of Dr. Baxter Stockman."

Dante switched off the TV. "Eh, he's old news now." His brothers groaned at that joke. "I know, I got to work on my comedy."

Splinter asked the red head, "What will you do now, Ms. O'Neil? You are most definitely out of a job."

"I'm not exactly sure."

Donny assured her, "We'll help you get back on your feet."

April smiled. "You guys, you've all been great! And by guys I mean four big green talking turtles, a hobo kid and a giant talking rat."

Leo led a toast. "Here's to the new team!" The brothers toasted with tea and let out a unified, "Oh, yeah!"

(!)

Oroku Saki listened to Baxter Stockman's report. "So, as any fool can see, the whole thing was simply...a minor setback," Stockman concluded. "With your continued funding, the research can continue immediately. I'll be back at work, oh, Monday morning."

Saki was hearing none of it. He put on his clawed gauntlet and pointed it at the failure scientist. "You must pay the price for failure, Dr. Stockman."

The large man grabbed Stockman by the collar and dragged him away. "No! Where are you taking me? You will regret this! No!" The door slammed shut.

Saki turned to face a scientist carrying a Mouser's head. "Well?"

"We have the image you requested, Master." He connected it to a projector and turned on a screen.

"So," Saki said, looking at the screen. "The last remaining image the Mouser optics recorded." On the screen was a thermal image of four turtles and a human boy carrying ninja weapons. "THESE are the ones responsible." He slashed the screen with his clawed gauntlet in anger. They will pay with their lives. He will make sure of it.


	4. Chapter 4

_I guess you could call it fate, but I have finally met somebody as angry as I am and he was really making me mad. My name is Raphael, and the bozo in the hockey mask is about to find out just how angry I can be._

(!)

Dante watched as Raph and Mikey practiced their hand to hand combat. It was fun to watch, mainly due to the fact that he loved it whenever Mikey teased Raph, breaking his concentration and making him lose focus and, like always whenever Mikey makes him angry, fall flat on his shell. Like now.

"Nice fall, Raphael. Just come back when you want some more."

Raph got out of the pile of boxes he had fallen in. "You've had it Mikey. Bro or no, you have got to go!"

Mikey blew into his fist with confidence. Raph leaped into the air and tired to land a punch, but Mikey dodged it. "Good reverse punch." And he avoided the kick. "Nice roundhouse kick too, Raphael." He flipped over Raph. "Whoa. Not a bad dragon punch either but, you're just a little too slow." Raph swiped at him, but he slapped him aside. "Actually, _much_ too slow."

Raph got up kicked Mikey across the floor. He charged at him, delivering all sorts of attacks (all of them dodged) and growled, "You think you're better than me?! DO YOU?!"

"No. You're just too cocky, Raph." Mikey tripped Raph, sending him into a table and breaking it. Mikey waved to his brothers and Splinter. "Winner and still champion, Michelangelo!"

What he didn't see was that Raph had gotten up and wielded a table leg like a club. "No... _no_... _You_... ** _YOU_**... _ **RAAAGH**_!" He swung the table leg like a wild savage at Mikey, all the while roaring in anger.

Mikey saw that perhaps he pushed his brother's button too much. "Raph! Wait! Wait!"

Dante grabbed his arm. "Stop," he cried. "He won! You lost! Get over it, hothead!"

That was the wrong thing to say. "STAY OUT OF THIS!" And he struck Dante with the table leg. Hard. The boy slid across the floor and smashed his head into a pillar. It was only when he saw his bleeding forehead did Raph finally stop. Leo tackled him to the ground. "RAPHAEL!" he shouted angrily. "HAVE YOU LOST YOUR MIND?!"

Donny helped Dante up then he turned to his angry brother. "What were you thinking, Raph?!"

Raph got up and looked at his hands, panting heavily. "I...Leo...Dante...I..." He let go of the table leg and buried his face in his hands in shame and horror.

Splitner walked up to him and said, "Ah, my son. So angry. Rage is a monster that will destroy you from within and others around you. Raphael, a true warrior finds balance in all things."

Raph looked at him, then at Dante. The boy looked at him with tear-leaking eyes, filled with hurt and justified anger. Raph couldn't take it anymore. "Master Splinter, I...I...I...I gotta get some air!" And he ran out the lair.

Dante huffed. "And he didn't even apologize. Typical Raph."

"My son," Splinter said. "Raphael _is_ sorry. He has done himself great harm as great as the harm you're feeling. He is ashamed, afraid."

"Raph's never afraid," Dante said. He groaned and put a hand on his wound.

"He is now," the rat said, escorting him to Donny's work area. "I can see it in his eyes. He is afraid you won't forgive him." He pulled out a bottle of hydrogen peroxide. "Now be still. This will sting. Donatello, fetch us some gauze."

(!)

On the rooftops, Raph panted heavily, thinking about what he had done. He felt so ashamed, all he wanted to do was hide in his shell and not come out. He let out a roar of frustration, " ** _WHAT IS WRONG WITH ME_**?!"

(!)

Somewhere in an apartment, a young man with messy black hair was watching the news. Surrounding his home were all sorts of hockey pucks, baseball bats, golf clubs and hockey equipment. Next to his couch was a scratched and scuffed white goalie mask resembling a skull. He watched the news with narrow eyes as he lifted weights. "And in other news, more sightings of a vigilante wearing a hockey mask are being reported in connection with several brutal attacks on the notorious Purple Dragons gang, alleged to have underworld connections."

The man's eyes narrowed, remembering the fire. "Purple Dragon scum. Somebody's gotta stop those Purple Dragons." He put on the hockey mask and grabbed his weapons. "Somebody's gotta make them pay! And they will. They'll ALL pay cause Casey Jones is on the job!"

(!)

While two warriors fueled by anger met and clashed with each other in the alleys, a bandaged Dante watched Donny work on some technology. Or at least he would be working if Mikey wasn't interrupting him constantly. "See Don?" the youngest turtle asked, holding up a crude drawing of a van with all sorts of weapons sticking out of it. "We could have our very own battle shell! I even got a name for it! I call it...the Battle Shell!"

"Did you come up with that name all by yourself in two seconds?"

"Oh, ha, ha, Dante. But you'll see! I got it all figured out! Turbo boosters, double action traction, cool secret...thingies shooting out the back! We should be tricking out the armored car!"

Donny shook his head. "By 'we' you mean 'me'. And I don't have the time. There's too much to do around here. Besides, where would we keep the thing?" He tossed the drawing aside, only for Mikey to recover it.

"Aw, we can find a place! Just think about overhauling the wheels! Please, please, please, please! Did I mention you're my favorite turtle?"

Dante made a humored noise. "The only times you say Donny is your favorite turtle is when you want him to do something."

"Hey!"

"Shh!" shushed Splinter. He and Leo where in the center of the lair, the former was holding two planks. "Leonardo is working on perfecting his ninjutsu skills. Perhaps something you three should consider." He faced his son. "Leonardo, leaping split kick!" Leo jumped into the air and tried to use both feet to knock the planks out of the rat's hand, but the rat simply pushed the turtle away with them. Leo landed on his feet and sighed in disappointment. Splinter put a hand on his shoulder. "Try again, my son. It will come with practice."

"Donatello," whispered Mikey in Donny's ear. "Donatello. If you build it, we will ride...IN TURTLE STYLE!"

Donny handed him a nail, a hammer and a sign reading, "Sewer sweet sewer." "Here, motor mouth. Make yourself useful. Hang this up some place nice."

Mikey groaned in disappointment. Then he turned to Dante. "Hey, you want to..."

"Forget it."

Mikey groaned in disappointment again then found a wall he thought was ideal enough to nail in. But it seemed that no matter how hard he hit it with the hammer, the nail refused to drive in. "What's this wall made of?" Mikey grunted in frustration and gave the nail one hard whack, only for it to bend. Mikey walked away only to come back with a larger nail and a sledgehammer. "All right tough guy," he chuckled. "Let's dance!" He swung the hammer and drove the nail through the wall. He smiled in his accomplishment and hung the sign on the nail.

Suddenly, the whole wall started to crack and give way. Mikey backed away. "Uh, oh." The wall collapsed, exposing something large and honeycomb shaped with blue symbols on it. Mikey looked at it in awe. "Uh...guys...lookie what I've found!"

Dante, Leo, Donny and Splinter joined the young turtle. Donny looked at it with marvel. "It's a door of some kind!"

"Be careful," hushed Leo.

"Why are we whispering?" asked Mikey. Dante flicked him on the head. "Ow! Just asking!"

Donny pressed his hand on the door. It opened, unleashing the smell of sulfur. "Whoo!" he said. "That's some stank!"

Mikey grinned. "Don't look at me, my brother. Remember, he who smelt it, dealt it."

When the smell disappeared, the five entered what looked like a small chamber. There were more symbols on the walls, glowing blue along with some blue crystals. On the ceiling was a crystal bigger than the others on the walls. Mikey pointed at them. "Hey, I found a bunch of these crystals while I was cleaning up the lair! They were all broken though."

Donny inspected the chamber. "Where's the power source for this room? I don't see any wires or..." Suddenly, the door closed and the whole chamber started to shake.

"Hey," Leo said. "Are we moving?"

Dante said, "If I didn't know any better, I'd say we're in..." The door suddenly opened again, and the turtles, the boy and the rat found themselves in what looked like an abandoned warehouse. "Where the shell are we?" asked Mikey. Donny opened the garage door with his hands, revealing that they were on the surface.

"So the weird glowing chamber brings us up to street level?" questioned Donny.

"I was right," Dante said. "That chamber is an elevator."

Splinter sniffed the place. "This warehouse has been abandoned for many, many years."

Mikey looked around, a smile forming on his face. "Great space, but it needs something. Hmm...bathtub? No. Kitchenette? Nuh-uh. I know! A souped up Battle Shell will be perfect right here! No, no, right here is the perfect spot to keep a souped up Battle Shell! No, here!"

Leo said he closed the door, "I think he's trying to tell you something, Donny."

"Yeah," said Dante. "Either you make him a battle shell and he'll stop whining about it."

The family returned to the lair; Leo said, "I don't know who could have built this thing, but if we're going to use it, we're going to need safety precautions and extra security measures up in the warehouse."

Donny grinned. "Piece of pie."

Mikey rubbed his belly. "Mmm. Piece of pizza pie!"

Suddenly, the door to the lair opened and Raph entered, looking so glum. Mikey was the first to greet him. "Welcome home, Raph!" It was then he saw how battered his brother looked. "Man! You look like you got the shell kicked out of you!"

"Yeah, it's a long story," Raph said. "But first I...I, I wanted to apologize. Mikey, Dante, I'm sorry I got so out of control earlier. Guys, I'm really sorry."

"It's going to take more than words to make up for what you did," Dante said, pointing at the bandages wrapped around the crown of his head.

"Then what will? I'll do anything."

Dante ran off only to come back with a bottle of mouth wash and a cup. He swished and gargled the mouth wash then spat into the cup, much to his brothers' disgust. He handed Raph the cup. "Swish it."

"What?!"

"You want to make up for it? Swish this mouth wash contaminated with my bacteria!" Raph gulped, then slowly, raised the cups to his lips. Only for Dante to smack it out of his hands. "Don't do it!"

"But I thought that's what it took for me to apologize!"

"Seeing you do it...that's enough. I forgive you." And he gave Raph a hug. Raph returned it.

"Yeah," Mikey said. "Don't sweat it bro."

Leo said humorously, "All right, who are you and what have you done to our brother Raphael?"

"Let's just say I had a chance to think about I had been acting. I'll fill you in over dinner?"

Mikey was excited. "Dinner? Now you're talking my language!"

"What language is that, Mikey? Nitwit?"

"Oh, ha, ha! Listen to the funny mutant!"

(!)

That night, Raph explained the situation. Apparently, he had run into another human, a young vigilante in a goalie mask running around bashing Purple Dragons, only he was rough. WAY too rough. Raph tried to stop him, only to get his shell kicked hard. Raph could see the same anger he had earlier in the young man's eyes and he knew it was only a matter of time before he did something he would regret. The punk defeated Raph and told them to meet him at Central Park on Friday night for a rematch. Five days from today.

"I don't know, Raph," Leo said. "Maybe we should tell Master Splinter."

"And have him stop us from going topside? We have to stop that vigilante whack bag and stop him! For his own good! He's not a bad guy, just a little misguided."

Suddenly, the lights went on and Master Splinter glared at his sons. "Ahem."

"Busted," said Mikey.

"How many times have I told you not to sneak up to the surface?"

"This month?"

"Five hundred twelve actually," Donny said to Mikey.

Splinter wasn't done. "It is dangerous for you to go about openly in the world above. You cannot simply walk amongst the humans. It is as the great warrior and sage Quin Shi Hashimura once said, 'Why walk when you can ride?'"

Raph raised an eyebrow. "Come again?"

"Take the truck."

(!)

The boys rode the elevator up to the warehouse where the armored truck was waiting. "All right, we've got till Friday night to make this bad boy turtle ready."

"Let's get to work," Donny declared.

Dante, Leo, and Raph were in charge of taking apart the van while Donny was in charge of adding new wheels, lights, weapons, and armor to the van. Mikey was in charge of giving it a brand new paint job. For five days, the boys made sure their new Battle Shell was absolutely perfect. Finally, on Friday night, the boys inspected their latest masterpiece. Raph gave a nod of approval. "Now THIS is a ride."

"You ain't seen nothing yet," said Donny. "Let's roll!"

"But we haven't given it a test run yet," Dante said as he chased after his brothers.

"We are now!"

The Battle Shell rolled out of the garage and out into the streets, heading for Central Park.

(!)

"And on your left," Donny said, pretending to be a tour guide. "is Central Park! Eight hundred and forty three acres of landscaped beauty in the center of the city."

Suddenly, Raph looked out the window and shouted, "Wait! There he is!" Sure enough, the vigilante was drove right alongside the Battle Shell on a motorcycle before passing it. "Floor it, Don! Keep up with him!"

"You go get him, Raph! I've hooked up something special for you. It's in the back." Raph took a look and grinned. A two-seated motorcycle with a shell decal to it and a red helmet sitting on it. Raph put the helmet on. "Like it? I call it the Shell Cycle!"

Raph couldn't have been more happier. "Donatello, you ARE the turtle." He grabbed Dante by the hand. "Hop on and hold on my back."

"Why?"

"I want to show this punk what happens when you get angry and do something you regret."

Raph rode out the Battle Shell on his beloved Shell Cycle, Dante's arms wrapped around his chest. Eventually, the boys finally caught up to the vigilante. The punk was trying his best to keep away, even going so far as to knock Raph off the road. "Pull over!" called out Raph. The vigilante refused. "I said, PULL OVER!" Raph leaned over and grabbed the brakes vigilante's handlebar, sending the young man over and onto his back. "Time for a little shell shock!" Raph revved up the Shell Cycle and when he was close enough, leaped off the bike and tackled the young man onto his back. Dante, meanwhile, parked the bike and ran to his brother.

The vigilante groaned, "Ugh. I can't believe I just got my butt kicked by some giant frog!"

Raph helped him up. "Turtle."

"Whatever."

"Look, I ain't no fan of the Purple Dragons either! I'll help you take them down, but we gotta exercise just a little restraint."

"Save it. You don't know what you're talking about."

"Try me."

The vigilante removed the goalie mask. "Well," he said, beginning his story. "A long time ago, when I was a kid, some punks were shaking my dad down for protection money. They were Purple Dragons. But when he didn't pay, they torched our store. I still remember what their leader, Hun said, 'You tell your old man, punk, next time pay up or else.'" He wiped the tears from his eyes. "So don't tell me how to deal with Purple Dragons!"

Raph said, understanding, "Just be careful. Your anger can take you down, make you act just like them. And you'll end up hurting others." He gestured to Dante.

"Who's the kid," the vigilante asked.

"My brother. ("I don't see the family resemblance," the vigilante said.) And I hurt him in a fit of rage. And all he did was try to stop me." Raph's lip quivered, not wanting to remember the incident. "My father once told me a true warrior finds balance in all things."

"Balance, huh?"

"Well, you know, as much balance as a couple of hot-headed whack bags as us can manage."

The vigilante smiled, "Me? You're the only whack bag around here, doc."

"Hey, I'm not half as crazy as you."

"Sorry, but for a little green dude, you are totally nuts."

"Yeah, well, I'm not the one running around in a hockey mask."

The vigilante pointed to his own face, "Hey, I gotta protect my good looks! I'm saving this face for Hollywood."

"Dude," Dante said. "With those looks, you're only going to find a job as a stunt double."

The vigilante gave him a light punch to the shoulder. "I'll take that as a compliment. Besides, that actually sounds like a fun job to me."

"Well," said a gruff voice. "Isn't this romantic?" The three of them suddenly found themselves surrounded by Purple Dragons, all of them armed with chains, pipes, bats and hammers.

"So," said the vigilante. "When you said I would go too far and get myself into trouble, you meant something like this?"

Raph looked around and gulped. "Something like."

Suddenly, headlights flashed and the Battle Shell came roaring in, scattering the Purple Dragons. The van stopped, and Mikey, Leo and Donny came out, armed with their weapons. "Friends of yours?" asked the vigilante.

"My brothers actually," Raph said.

"NOW I can see the family resemblance."

"I'm the petty one," Mikey said with a smile. Dante flicked his nose. "Hey, whose side are you on?!"

The Purple Dragons got closer, none of them happy. The vigilante lowered his hockey mask and led the charge. It was the same as last time the turtles and Dante fought these guys. Give them some weapons, and they'd think they are experts. The turtles, Dante and the vigilante proved them wrong. Again. The vigilante, while he had no ninjutsu training, was holding his ground. Apparently, he had been training twenty-four/seven since the gang torched his store down.

Meanwhile, Leo put his swords away and performed the split kick. He was grinning. "Guys! Check it out! I got my split kick right!"

Raph said while he and Casey bashed some more Purple Dragons, "I missed it! Do it again!" Leo obliged and split kicked two more Purple Dragons. "One more time!" Leo obeyed Raph's command and split kicked two more Purple Dragons. "Heh, heh," chuckled Raph. "Saw that one!"

The vigilante held up his fingers. "I give you ten!"

Leo chuckled before punching another Purple Dragon in the gut. "Hey, Raph? Only a six?"

"Hey, it's all I got!"

After more punches, kicks, head shots and beat downs, all the Purple Dragons were lying in a heap, groaning.

Raph smiled at his new friend, "I know I'm gonna regret saying this, but I'm glad I met you, crazy man."

The vigilante lifted his hockey mask and returned the gesture with his own smile, "Me too, green dog. And you know something? I'm starting to see what you're all about."

"What, you mean about balance? Self control?"

"Nah. I mean that you're a green mutant freak. But I like you." He gave Raph a playful punch to the shoulder. Raph returned the gesture in kind. Then the vigilante punched him again, harder. So did Raph. In just two seconds, the two hot heads were rolling around on the ground, punching and kicking and shouting.

Donny, Leo, Dante and Mikey looked at each other. "He's your brother," Leo said to Dante.

"No," Dante said. "He's _your_ brother," he said to Mikey.

"Oh, no, he's YOUR bro," Mikey said to Donny.

"Absolutely, He's YOUR brother."

Dante sighed. "I'm going to regret this." He took careful aim, then when he was in the right position, smacked the two fighting hot heads between the legs with his tonfas. The two stopped fighting and held their delicate bits, groaning in pain.

"Dude..." groaned Raph. "Why did you that? We were just getting along!"

"Yeah," wheezed the vigilante. "And another thing...never hit someone below the belt like that!"

"Sorry. It was the only way I could think of to get you two to stop. Besides. We don't even know your name."

The vigilante said, "Casey. My name is Casey Jones. And it's payback time!" He tackled Dante to the ground.

"No! Please! Stop! It doesn't bend that far! UNCLE! UNCLE!"


	5. Chapter 5

_My name is Donatello, and I'm usually into building things. This particular thing, I'd like to take apart, real fast... before it takes us apart._

(!)

In a lab somewhere in New York, a woman was overseeing a white cloud in a chamber. She said to a recorder, "Journal entry 567, US government project commission codenamed: Nanotech. Experiment proceeding as planned. The Nanobots continue to work together as a colony, coordinated by the hive mind contained within the robotic cells." She watched as the nano swarm started forming various shapes. "The safety restriction is still in place. It cannot disassemble molecules or organic cells as it will in the future when it performs microscopic operations." She typed down some commands into a keyboard and a toaster and an alarm clock were placed into the chamber. "7:05 AM. First test of its ability to take apart and reassemble mechanical devices."

The woman watched as the nano swarm took the appliances and formed them into a basic robot. But the woman was displeased with the result. The robot was as small as a toddler and when it said, "Mama!" her concerns were clearly confirmed. "Oh, please. I thought this was fixed!" She rubbed her temples in frustration. "The mental structure of the hive mind is equivalent to that of a three-year-old child to facilitate new information." She groaned, "It's personifying again! Ridiculous!" She pressed a button and the robot was destroyed, but not the nano swarm. "This personality glitch will have to be eradicated as soon as possible." She rubbed her temples again. "Wish I could do the same to this headache. I need a cup of coffee."

But what the woman didn't know as she left was that the nano swarm did not just have the mentality of a three-year-old, but a naughty one at that. When the swarm saw she was gone, it reassembled the robot, but this time gave it a drill arm. It bore a hole through the container, then shed the robot and flew through the vent and out into the city.

The swarm snaked its way across the sidewalk, careful that no one sees it. Then it heard a Brooklyn accent say, "Hey, the new cybots are here! Get 'em while they're hot!" It turned to see a man in a brown trench coat and bowler hat peddling toy robots. And he clearly looked impatient. "Come on you bunch of ingrates! Somebody's got to buy one of these things! Why, I ought to..."

"Daddy! Daddy!" A child's voice shouted. "Daddy, I want one!"

The boy's father said, "Okay." He turned to the salesman. "How much?"

"Five bucks."

"I'll give you three."

"THREE?! I gotta make a living here!"

"Take it or leave it."

The salesman caved. "All right, fine!" He took the three dollars...and the man's wallet when nobody was looking. "Heh, heh, heh. I'll make it up on the back end."

The boy and his father didn't even get far when the toy broke instantly. The boy cried, "It's broke!"

"Hey, you!" But the peddler was gone before the father could confront him.

(!)

In a back alley, the peddler hid behind a dumpster and counted his ill begotten gains. "Ah, Harry, you still got it." His smile disappeared. "Thirteen bucks? Thirteen bucks?!" He kicked the suitcase with the shoddy robot toys, breaking it open. "Man, oh man, can't I _ever_ get a break?" Unbeknownst to him, the nano swarm was following him. And when it saw the toy robots and a broken radio in the dumpster, it quickly began its programing to take apart and reassemble. Harry watched in horror as the parts came together to form a small robot. Then it spoke in a small child's voice, "Da...dee...?" Harry let out a scream and backed himself into a corner.

"All right you weird whatever you are," he said, nervous. "Come on, give me back my stuff." Then he eyed the backdoor to a jewelry shop. An idea light bulb formed in his head. "Hey, listen kid, that trick you do, do you think you can do that to a little thing called a burglar alarm?"

"Daddy," the robot said.

"You want a daddy? You do what I tell you, I'll be your daddy. Deal?" Harry extended his arm for a handshake. "Smile and shake hands. Course, with your face, I can't tell if you're smiling or what." Still, the little robot shook hands with the crook. Harry smiled. "Kid, I got the feeling you're the lucky break I've been waiting for."

(!)

While this was going on, the turtles, Dante and Casey Jones stopped by April's shop, the Second Time Around. Mikey was the first to get out and ring the doorbell. "Hi April! Green Brothers Movers and Schleppers reporting for duty!"

"Hey guys. Thanks for coming. I need all the help I can get. Mike, you can start by moving those big heavy boxes."

"Just let me put on my hernia truss," he said with a cocky smile.

"Right over there, wise guy. Plus, I've got a heater that won't heat."

"Hence these." Donny said, holding up plumbing tools and new pipes.

"You three," April said to Raph, Leo and Dante. "That whole wall of antiques needs moving. _Carefully_."

Raph frowned. "Hey, I'm a ninja not a..." But Leo shushed him up. "Your wish is our command." And he pushed Leo inside with Dante following.

Then Casey Jones entered the building. April was surprised. "You're...not a turtle."

"Uh...definitely not."

Dante giggled. "Love at first sight it seems."

Casey and April blushed. "Shut up!" they both shouted. But Dante smiled but remained silent. Leo introduced him. "Hope you don't mind. We brought along a friend."

"Uh, Casey, Casey Jones." Then the vigilante looked around the curiosity shop. "Hey, nice junk!"

"It was my dad's," said April. "The shop I mean. I'm reopening it for now until I figure out what to do with myself. Last job ended," she paused to figure out the right word. "weirdly."

Casey nodded. "Oh, I get it. While you're waiting for a real job to come along, you're just waiting in your pop's junk shop. It's cool."

April was indignant. "'Junk'? It's an antique shop! And I'm not hiding from anything!"

"Hey, whatever, babe."

April's eye twitched. "'Babe'?"

Then he saw Dante and Raph struggling with a cabinet full of China plates. "Hey, boys, that's a three man job."

April called out, "Guys, guys! Be careful! That's very rare..." SMASH! "...antique China."

"Whatever, babe," Casey said, clearly not seeing what the big deal is. "We'll clean it up." April growled, then walked away in a huff. "Geez," Casey said. "Is your friend always so sensitive?"

Raph shrugged his shoulders. Then he realized Dante's eyes were wide and twitching. "Hey, what's up?"

"The cabinet," he said in a pained voice. "It's on my toes. And as you know, I don't wear shoes."

(!)

While Dante put bags of ice on his swollen toes, April came along and sat on the couch next to him. "Sorry about what happened. Casey is so stupid."

"I know," Dante said. "But you'll learn to love him. I think perhaps you already do."

"Me?! Love that...that...stupid caveman!"

Dante laughed. Then he noticed something in April's arms. "Are those clothes?"

"Consider them my thank you presents." She handed Dante a grey hooded shirt, blue jeans and black sneakers. "You need something better than rags."

"I always got my clothes out of the dumpsters of thrift stores. I could never get new ones," Dante said. "This is...so nice."

(!)

"How do I look?" asked Dante as he came out of the bathroom. He presented his clothes to the turtles, April and Casey. "Not too shabby?"

"Not shabby at all," Donny complimented. Everyone agreed. Dante smiled.

(!)

Later that evening, after the turtles, Casey and Dante had finished setting up April's shop (and broke even more antiques on Casey's part), Dante presented himself to Master Splinter his new clothes. "How do I look?"

"You truly look like a surface dweller now," Splinter said. "Much better than those hand-me-downs I fished out of thrift store dumpsters."

"Thanks. And what about your clothes?" Dante turned to face his turtle brothers. They were holding folded trench coats and fedora hats.

"What is this?" asked Mikey. "1922? I'm not wearing something that Al Capone considered outdated."

"Well, it's the only way April could think of that would keep you being discreet while you walk in public."

"Remember," Splinter said. "A ninja always finds a way to hide himself. Be it the shadows, or ordinary clothing."

"Even ugly things like these?" asked Raphael.

"Yes. Even those ugly things."

"Wow," Dante said. "Those are gifts from April and you're snubbing them?"

"As long as they do their jobs and keep us in the shadows," said Leo. "I don't care how ugly they are."

(!)

That night, near a shop not too far from the Second Time Around, Harry and his robot partner in crime sneaked behind the shop and Harry presented the robot with the challenge of disabling the security system. The robot did so with ease.

(!)

By the crack of morning, the owners of the store had come back to find everything had been picked clean. Even the security systems were gone.

(!)

"I'm a little nervous about these robberies," April said as soon as Casey, the turtles and Dante arrived at the Second Time Around. "The jewelry store that was robbed is right on my block. So that's why I asked you here to a sleepover tonight."

"Don't worry, April," Raph said. "We got you covered."

April smiled. "I feel so much better having you guys here."

Raph went to the window and gave Casey Jones, who was clad in his hockey mask and gear, a thumbs up. The vigilante, who was on a roof across the street, gave the turtle a thumbs up. He would be watching the building on the outside, while the turtles and Dante watched inside.

He didn't have to wait long. Harry (now clad in stolen fancy clothes) and the robot walked past the Second Time Around when Harry stopped and spotted something that caught his eye in the display window. "Well, hello! A pinky ring! Heh, where I grew up, all the neighborhood big shots had pinky rings. Hey, kid, fetch that for me will, you?"

(!)

The robot took the pinky ring from the display window and was about to leave when it spotted a Comedy mask and a Tragedy mask. He recalled what "Daddy" said earlier, "Course with your face, I can't tell if your smiling or what." Then it took the masks from the shelf. That's when Harry came in. "What's taking you?" He saw the robot put on the masks. "What are you doing with those? Come on!" The two of them ran from the store and hid behind a dumpster in a nearby alley. "Remember our deal, kid? You do what I say. I'm the...daddy." The robot swapped the Tragedy mask with the Comedy mask. Harry smiled. He couldn't stay mad at his lucky break. He patted the robot on the head and was about to leave with it when...

"So," said Casey Jones. "What's your story gonna be?" He grabbed Harry by the collar. The robot swapped the Comedy for the Tragedy. "Doing some after hour shopping?"

The robot, seeing his "Daddy" in trouble ran to a nearby car. The nano swarm within it took the car apart and fused it with its current body, creating an even bigger robot with two more masks: angry and scared. Casey Jones let Harry go as he watched in shock at his new opponent. Then he felt his heart jump when the angry mask faced him. "Uh oh."

(!)

Dante awoke with a start. "What..." He looked out the window and saw Casey getting the crap beat out of him. "Oh, no." He turned to his brothers, all fast asleep. He groaned, "Some security guards we make." Knowing how they were heavy sleepers, there was only one way to wake them up. He took his tonfas and smacked all four of them in the groin. The brothers awoke groaning and clutching their manly parts.

"Why..." Mikey moaned.

"Kill you..." Raph grunted.

"No time!" Dante shouted, jumping out the window. "Casey needs help NOW!" And he jumped out the window and ran to the alley.

April awoke with a yawn. "Hey, did you guys hear any..." No one was here. "I'm guessing yes."

(!)

Dante blinked when he saw the multi-faced robot made from scrap. The angry mask was glaring at him. Dante blinked. "What is that?"

"Oh, great," Harry said. "Another punk trying to play hero. Kid, sic em."

The robot stomped toward Dante, backing away. "Uh..." He felt great relief when his brothers joined him. They too had looks of shock and confusion on their faces. "What is that thing?" asked Leo. "Donny?"

Donny shrugged his shoulders. "Uh...insufficient data, boss."

Harry let out a frightened yell and hid behind his lucky break. "This can't be happening! Martians! Just when thing finally go my way, we get invaded! Don't let them take me, kid!"

The robot smashed the ground, sending the boys back a little. But they fought back. Raph and Mikey took turns attacking the robot's legs, only to be kicked aside. "Shouldn't you be having an idea right about now?" he asked Donny.

"Hold that thought," Donny said, taking out a blowtorch from his bag. "Keep it busy!"

"I knew you were going to say that."

Dante and Leo took turns attacking the robot. First, Leo slashed the its chest, then Dante took his time smashing his tonfas into the robot's back. Both brothers were tossed to the ground. With it distracted, Donny snuck up behind it and blasted the blowtorch into its back. It let out a child-like cry and swatted Donny aside.

"Don't let them aliens get you, kid," Harry cheered on. "Knock them flat!"

Leo faced him. "What do you know about this?"

"Aah! Help! Kid!"

The robot's angry face was replaced with the tragedy mask. "Da..dee..." It pushed the turtles aside and grabbed Harry and ran away with him.

April had just come out of the store to see what was happening. "What was that thing?"

"A robot," Dante said. "What else is there?"

Suddenly, there was a groan and April ran to Casey Jones, who was now lying in a pile of trash after his thrashing with the robot. "So," he said in a daze. "Did I win?"

Then Donny saw something squirming. A piece of metal that came off the robot when he used the blowtorch on it. And there was something odd about it. "Guys," he said. "This stuff is moving!"

(!)

Back in the store, Donny held the piece of scrap under a microscope and a look of intrigue appeared on his face. "Whoa, definitely something you don't see every day."

"What is it?" Dante asked.

"Look."

Dante peered into the microscope and saw a swarm of white, metal earwig-like things with red eyes. "What are those things?"

"Nano bots. Microscopic robots all working together."

"Are they dangerous?" asked Raph.

"They're moving randomly," Donny answered. "Probably when they were cut off from the main group, they became mindless. Unmotivated."

"Like Mikey and Raph?" asked Dante.

"HEY!" Both turtles glared at him.

"Speaking of mindless," Raph said. "Didn't that thing seem kind of...lost to you?"

"Yeah," Dante said. "The way he called that crook Daddy and the way he cried when Donny burned him, he acted like a little boy." He returned his attention to the nano bots. "Uh, Donny, these things are multiplying."

Donny's eyes widened. "That's not good. If each nano bot makes a copy of itself and the copies make copies and so on and so on, this thing could really become unstoppable."

Leo said with leadership in his voice, "Then we stop it now! Is there anyway to trace this thing?"

Donny tapped his chin. "The nano bots have a unique power signature." He snapped his fingers. "Hey! I bet the tracker on the Battle Shell could get a lock on it?"

"Then what?" asked Dante.

Donny took the blowtorch. "As much as I hate destroying such amazing technology..." He burned the scrap until it melted. "...it does seem to be susceptible to extreme heat."

"No way," Dante said. "We would need a junk yard furnace to fry that thing."

Casey Jones, who was reclining on the couch and covered in bandages, tried to sit up. "Let me just grab my golf baaaagh!" He yelled and grabbed his ribs. "Ow!"

"You're not going anywhere, mister," said April. "You wait right here until I get some more bandages."

While she left for more bandages, Raph walked up to him and whispered, "You wouldn't happen to be milking this boo-boo thing would you, Case?"

Casey smiled, "Hey, show a little concern, shell for brains."

"You owe us one, pal."

"Definitely."

(!)

In the junkyard, Harry and the robot were enjoying the spoils that encompassed a large section of the junkyard. Harry laughed. "Man, that was something. Those space aliens or whatever. But you saved me, kid! You saved me! You're a real stand up guy, you know? I'm proud of you." The robot's face became the comedy mask. "Hey, you think those green freaks came from the same planet you're from? Where ever that is. You think maybe they're here to take you back?" The mask was switched for the tragedy one. "No, I wouldn't like that either. Maybe it's time for us to blow out of town." Suddenly, a crash and an engine's roar was heard. "Wait, you hear that?"

(!)

The boys hopped out of the Battle Shell and started to look around. "Called it," Dante said. "Told you we needed a junk yard furnace."

Leo said, "Look at all this stolen stuff!"

"Found April's pinky ring," Dante said.

"Where is it," Donny said, checking the scanner. "The locater says it should be right here!"

Mikey gulped. "I know it's been said before but, I got a bad feeling about this!"

Mikey's words were proven true. The robot jumped from a pile of trash and let out a child-like roar. Then the nano swarm in its body started assimilating the trash around it, making it bigger.

Mikey said, "And now, I got an even badder feeling about this." He turned to his brothers. "Uh, guys, any idea what we're going to do about this?"

"What we always do, together," Leo said. "Do it so fast it can't rebuild itself!"

The turtles and Dante slashed the robot, taking pieces of the body off itself. But it proved no good; it simply rebuilt itself faster than they took it apart. Then it grabbed Mikey by the leg and spun him around. "Not good!"

"I'm coming, Mikey," Donny shouted.

"Make it quick! I'm gonna hurl! LITERALLY!"

Donny climbed up the robot's body, but it grabbed him and threw him aside. "It's fast!"

"That's not a good thing, Don!" The robot tossed Mikey into his brothers. "So, I'm gonna say that plan didn't go so well."

"Plan B?" asked Donny.

"Plan B." said Leo. The brothers retreated into the Battle Shell and the robot chased after it. Before long, it grabbed the Battle Shell and started to assimilate it.

"Faster, Mikey!" Donny said. "It's taking us apart!"

"I'm giving it all she's got, captain! She cannot take anymore!"

"Raph, you're on," said Leo. "Shell cycle time!"

"Sure thing." Raph hopped onto his bike and put on his helmet. "I always do the crazy stuff." Raph burst out of the back of the car.

"Keep it busy until we're in position!" Dante shouted.

Raph spun around the robot in circles, making it dizzy and angry. Fed up, it chased him until Raph led it to a large crusher. "Now, Mikey!" shouted Leo. "Ramming speed!" Mikey obeyed and rammed the robot into the crusher. It let out a scream as Raph activated the crusher and cubed it.

"Yeouch," Raph said. "Looks like that did it."

Mikey laughed. "Yeah, he's flat broke." His smile disappeared instantly when the robot reformed itself. "You know, I'm gonna stop with the puns. Seriously! They always come back to bite you!"

Now angry beyond belief, the robot chased after the turtles before settling on one turtle: Raph.

"How fast can you get into position?" Leo asked Donny.

"Consider me there!" Donny jumped out of the Battle Shell and ran towards the crane with the giant magnet.

Raph, worried as he heard the robot's footsteps get closer, called in his phone. "Leo, tell me you got a plan C! I really hope you got a plan C!"

"Plan C at twelve o' clock!"

Raph went straight ahead, but nothing was happening. The robot got ready to squash him... "Uh, fellas? Plan C? NOW?!"

The robot was instantly lifted up into the magnet as soon as Raph led it straight under it. Then Donny positioned it right above the furnace.

"Hang on, kid!" yelled Harry. "Daddy's coming!" He ran to the crane and shut off the power. Big mistake. The magnet dropped the robot into the furnace. "No! No!" Harry could only watch as the robot melted down.

"Daaaaaaaaaaaa...deeeeeeeeeeeeeee..."

Harry dropped to his knees. Then he saw something on the ground and picked it up. The robot's comedy mask, cracked and broken. "I can't believe you're gone," he said, tears running down his face. "My one real lucky break and I broke you! I...I...I'm sorry!" He sobbed, ignoring the approaching police sirens, attracted by the sounds of the fighting.

(!)

The brothers were silent as they drove back to the Second Time Around. Then Mikey broke the silence. "You know, I feel kinda bad for the little bot."

"Little?!" Raph said, exasperated.

"You know what I meant. He was kind of like a little kid. Almost reminded me of Dante when he was a kid."

"Too bad he had such a rotten parent," Donny said, shaking his head.

Dante sighed as he and his brothers stepped out. "The figting's over. That's all that matters." Then the brothers suddenly found themselves wishing they hadn't come in as they found Casey Jones and April arguing with each other.

"'Take care of me?!'" Casey shouted. "I only got hurt because I was saving you!"

"Oh, so you think I need saving, is that it?" April shouted back.

"You twist around ever thing I said! Ha! Women!"

"Of all the myopic, misogynistic..."

"Jeez! How could we even talk if you don't speak English?!"

"I told you to watch the antiques you big ape!"

"Maybe we should go now," Dante said. His brothers agreed and silently walked out of the shop and back to the Battle Shell.

(!)

Back in the sewer, Dante smiled as he read his comic books. "I think Casey and April are going to get along quite swell. Didn't they seem like an old married couple the way they argued?"

"Oh yeah," Raph said. "I'll be sure to tell Casey you said that."

"Do that and I'll kick you in the nuts."

"That reminds me."

"What? Oh, no!"

Dante ran around the room with an angry Raph at his heels. "You're going to get some payback for waking us up like that you little..."

"Hey! I woke up the others like that! It's not like I singled you out!"

The other turtles stopped what they were doing and nodded to each other.

Dante went pale. "Oh, no!"


	6. Chapter 6

_My name is Donatello, and right now, I'm learning how just long I can hold my breath. That vibro-cannon is seriously messing up the East River. If this keeps up, the whole South Street Sea Port could go crumbling into the water. I'd be fascinated by the technology...if I wasn't otherwise occupied._

(!)

Master Splinter shook his head as he watched his sons ride their skateboards (Mikey), bikes (Donny), scooters (Leo) and roller blades (Raph) around the lair. Teenagers and their extreme sports. But that was nothing compared to Dante's choice of extreme vehicle.

"Seriously," Raph said as he performed a half-pipe. "Of all the things you chose, you chose a unicycle?"

"Yeah," said Mikey as he leaped over the couch, avoiding Splinter. "We're ninjas, not circus performers!"

"You're the ones who took all the cool stuff!" Dante complained as he used his unicycle to go up a wall then back down.

"Hey," said Donny. "With those moves, maybe you _should_ belong in a circus! That was really impressive!"

Suddenly, everything went dark and the turtles and Dante crashed. "OW! Is this your idea of a prank, Master Splinter?" Dante asked.

"No, it is not."

"Nice wiring job, Don," Mikey said, glaring at Donny.

"I guarantee it's not MY wiring. Must be a black out."

"Must be. Now, you mind getting your foot off my shell?"

The rat lit a candle to find his sons in a heap. Leo made a mock gasp. "Keep that away from Mikey! He scarfed down a whole chili pizza for dinner."

"Clearly there is a power failure," said Splinter. "I want you to investigate and see if it can be fixed."

"Can do," Dante said as he and his turtle brothers carried their gear.

"And hurry up," the rat said. "I do not want to miss my favorite program."

(!)

Up on the rooftops, the turtles looked around. It was dark. There were no street lights on, no car lights, no lights on in any houses. There were no lights at all. "You know, I don't think Splinter meant we should investigate this far." Typical teacher's pet Leonardo.

Raph smiled. "You can never be too thorough. Especially when it comes to topside time."

Donny analyzed the situation. "This whole side of town is dark! A substation must of gone out."

"Why's the backup generator not on?" Dante asked. "This isn't right."

"Yeah," said Raph. "It's totally dark down there."

Mikey, always looking for positives, said, "Which means there's only one thing for us to do."

Raph, Donny and Dante smiled with him. They took out their extreme sports gear and leaped off the roof and into the streets. "BANZAI!" they shouted. Dante was having the time of his life as he rode his unicycle through the streets and over cars, benches, and performing all sorts of tricks with it. And he was sure the others were feeling the same as well. It felt so good to be free!

Leo cautiously followed the others on his scooter. "Guys, you really think we should be doing this? What if somebody sees us?"

Raph laughed as he ground his roller blades across a stair rail. "That's the beauty of it, Leo! No one _can_ see us! It's pitch black!"

"Get with the program bro," Mikey said, finishing a trick on top of a parked car. "It's a once in a life time opportunity to session some surface terrain!"

Dante called out, "Hey! Check this out!" But he didn't go anywhere. Instead, he turned his head across the street where the art museum was.

"Hey," Raph said. "What exactly are we supposed to see?"

Dante said grimly, "Fun's over. Look." He pointed to the museum's rooftop. There were two ninjas shrouded in a black gi. But they both bore one symbol that was the same: a red three-toed dragon's foot. Dante watched as they silently broke into the museum's rooftop window.

When the turtles saw them, their eyes widened. "Didn't we fight these clowns once before?" asked Mikey.

"Yeah," said Donny. "And we nearly got waxed."

"You're wrong, Dante," Raph said as he twirled his sai blades. "The fun's not over. It's payback time."

(!)

The boys silently followed the ninjas as they went to the Japanese section of the art museum. They hid in a corner and watched as the ninjas approached the glass case of a very wicked-looking katana sword. Its guard resembled a three toed golden dragon's foot and the handle was silver in color with a golden ivory design.

"Why go through the trouble of causing a black out just for one sword," Dante whispered.

"Don't know," Raph said. "Don't care. Let's make some heads roll."

One of the ninjas put on a silver glove and was about to take the sword when Leo tossed one of his shurikens, stopping him. "Gift shop's on the first floor boys," Leo said. "But they don't take kindly to shoplifters. And neither do we."

The two ninjas readied themselves. Raph only laughed. "Now before you try to make off with the goods, you might want to consider a few things. One, you're outnumbered. Two, don't let the pretty faces fool you. We're tougher than we look."

Fifteen more ninjas appeared out of nowhere. Mikey gulped. "And three, we're about to get our mouths seriously hammered!"

One of the ninjas took a staff and swung at Leo only for the turtle to slice it in half. Then the ninja pressed a button on the staff halves and spears poked out of the ends. Leo gulped. The ninja swung the spears, but Leo blocked them with his shell, breaking them in the process. Now it was the ninja's turn to gulp as Leo kicked him in the gut. Leo sighed in relief. "Saved by the shell."

Raph spun around on his roller blades and struck a warrior's pose. "Check it out: blades and blades!" One of the ninjas ran toward him with a sword, but Raph dodged and a pot got sliced instead. "You break it, you bought it!" The ninja chased after him. Raph skidded across the floor and grabbed the ninja's sword arm. "And speaking of buying it..." And he shoved him into a gong.

Donny faced another ninja, this one wielding a bladed bo staff. But rather than fighting bo to bo, Donny decided to fight bo to bike! He unfolded his bike, got on it and rammed the bike's front wheel into the ninja, making him crash into a suit of samurai armor. Another ninja, armed with a pair of sai blades ran toward him. Donny positioned his staff like a jouster's lance and yelled, "Charge!" He rode his bike forward and hit the pole into the ninja's gut, making him groan in pain.

Dante leaped from display case to display case on his unicycle, dodging a ninja throwing shurikens at him. When he ran out of display cases to hop on, he decided to do something drastic. He dodged the next five shuriken and tossed his unicycle into the ninja's head. Dante took the unicycle and dusted it off.

Mikey rode his board across the room on his board, knocking down numbers of ninjas with his nunchucks. "COWABUNGA! Ha, ha, ha! Bowling for ninjas!" Unfortunately, another ninja with a chained sickle wrapped his chain around the turtle's wrist and yanked him off the board. But Mikey wasn't done yet. When the ninja gave him another tug, Mikey grabbed the board and the force of the tug sent him flying into the ninja's arm reach. Mikey wasn't worried. "Heads up!" He struck the skateboard in the ninja's face, knocking him out before he could slash Mikey. The turtle chuckled. "Way to pick up that spare." He tore the three-toed dragon symbol off the fallen opponent's chest. "And a trophy to boot!"

"A little help over here!" Leo called out as he was overwhelmed by more ninjas. His brothers rushed to help, only for the ninjas to jump out of the way. The turtles and Dante yelled, then crashed into each other. "Why did this happen to us twice in one night?" Dante groaned.

"Yeah," said Mikey. "I sense a teamwork training session in our future."

All the ninjas that were defeated slowly got up and readied their weapons as they advanced toward the fallen brothers. No, they were running past them! "Don't let them get away!" Dante shouted.

One ninja grabbed the sword with the dragon's foot guard and ivory designed handle with his silver glove. He was about to leave when the brothers blocked him. "Just put the sword back, sparky, and we'll call it a draw." Then the most amazing thing happened: the ninja pointed the sword at the brothers and a ring of energy shot out, sending them flying into a wall. Then he made his escape.

"How about best two out of three?" asked Mikey.

"What was that sword?" asked Donny.

But then they heard the sound of police sirens. "Hold that thought," said Leo. "We gotta book.

(!)

Back in the sewers, the turtles and Dante presented Splinter with the three-toed dragon foot symbol and told him their story of what happened in the museum.

"What does the symbol mean, Mr. Splinter?" asked Leo.

"Trouble," said the old rat. The way he said that, he sounded grim with an air of familiarity.

Raph could sense it. "You know something about these ninjas? Where did they come from? Who do they work for?"

"And what do they want with a magic sword?" asked Mikey.

"Nope," said Donny, showing his scientific side. "Not magic. Probably more like a self-perpetuating oscillation frequency generator."

Mikey didn't catch any single word of that. "In English, Einstein?"

"It packs a shockwave that knocks you flat on your shell."

"I still say it's magic," said Dante.

"We gotta go after these creeps," said Raph.

"Here it comes," said Dante dryly. "Another lecture caused by Raph's stupidity."

"Why you..."

"He is right. Apparently, you do need another lecture," said Splinter. "A wise ninja does not seek out an enemy he does not fully understand."

"But sensei," Leo pleaded. "Bushido demands that we fight for honor and justice and-"

"Bushido also demands that you respect your master's wishes!"

Dante noticed a level of harshness in Splinter's words. "Master?" he asked carefully. "Is there something you want to talk about?" Splinter frowned at him. Dante tilted his head. "Is that a no, or a yes but you can't find the right words?"

Splinter retreated back to his room. "I will meditate on this matter. Goodnight." And he closed the door.

Mikey groaned in disappointment. "Undergrounded again."

Donny scratched his chin, then had an idea pop in his head before rushing to his workstation.

"Where you going brainiac?" asked Raph.

Donny ignored him and typed some commands into his computer. "There's more than one way to 'seek out your enemy'."

"And that is?" asked Dante.

"I'm going to multitask. See if I can find any news of any similar black outs while at the same time, lock onto the sword's energy frequency. This could take a long time though."

Dante nodded. "And unfortunately, we all know two turtles who lack patience." He gestured to Raph and Mikey who glared at him.

(!)

Somewhere in another part of New York City, at the top of one particular skyscraper, Hun walked into his master's training hall to find said master, Oroku Saki, currently training with some of his more stronger ninjas...and winning. Then he smiled when he saw Hun. "Ah, Hun. One moment." One ninja attempted to sneak up on Saki only to be punched in the face and knocked down. Then Saki approached Hun. "I trust you bring good news?"

Hun bent down on one knee and presented the sword to him. Saki smiled wickedly. "Ah, the Sword of Tengu." He picked it up. "Still just as potent after all these years." He brought the sword close to a display case containing a suit of armor with spiked shoulders and a horned helmet. The sword glowed in the armor's presence. "And still able to locate other artifacts that share its unique origin. Yes, this sword will help me track down those that I have been searching for all these years." He gave the sword back to Hun. "Bring it to Tech Division. Tell them to proceed with Phase Two."

(!)

Back in the sewer, everyone was doing their own thing. Raph and Leo were training, Mikey and Dante were watching TV and Donny was still at his computer. "What's with the big cheese," Mikey asked as he looked back at Splinter's door with concern. "He's been zoning in there all day."

"That dragon's foot symbol," Dante said. "It looked like he had seen a ghost when he saw it."

"Enough with this waiting around," Raph said as he punched his training dummy harder than usual. "I say we head up top side, kick ninja butt, take ninja names, and find out the whole ninja story for ourselves!" On that last word, he kicked the dummy's head clean off its shoulders and into Mikey's potato chips bag.

Mikey cringed. "Remind me not to get on your bad side."

"I thought Raph only _had_ a bad side," Dante joked.

Raph headed for the exit, but was stopped by Leo. "Hang on, Raph. No one's going anywhere."

"Guys, check it out!" Donny called out suddenly. And good thing too, Raph looked as though he might attack Leo. "I hacked into the power company's computer system. Looks like there's another black out down by the South Street Port."

"I smell a rat," said Raph. "And I don't mean Splinter."

"Hang on guys," Leo said. "Master Splinter said..."

"He said not to go after the ninjas," Dante said, sounding more like Raph. "He didn't say we should not investigate a power failure. Right?"

"Right," said Raph.

"Excellent," said Donny. "I have a few new surveillance toys I wanna test."

And with that, the turtles and Dante left the sewer. Well, except for Leo. "Wait up!" He sighed in frustration. "It's tough being a leader." And with that, he chased after his brothers. Unbeknownst to them, Splinter was silently watching them.

(!)

On the top of the Brooklyn Bridge, the brothers looked around. "Total black out," said Raph. "Just like last night."

"But this time I came prepared," Donny said, reaching into his duffle bag and pulling out a pair of night vision goggles. Mikey swiped them and gave a playful laugh. "Awesome! Total turtle vision!"

" _Night_ vision actually," Donny said, taking the glasses back.

"How do we survey such a large area?" asked Leo.

"I got that covered too." Donny reached into his duffle bag and pulled out a foldable hang glider. "I've been dying to try this puppy."

Leo was shocked. "You mean you haven't tested it yet?!"

"Dude," said Mikey. "How's he supposed to test a flying machine in the _sewers_?"

"He's got a point there," Dante said.

"We'll stay in touch via our shell cell phones," Donny said. "I've worked out all the theoretical aerodynamics." He started running. "It's practically fool PROOOOOOOOOF!" He yelled as he took off gliding.

"Is it Don proof?" asked Raph sarcastically.

The turtles and Dante could see that Donny was having a little trouble flying and dodging the bridge's support wires. Leo called into his Shell Cell, "Don? Don!"

"I'm okay. No problem!" But then he had a change of tone when he realized he was flying straight into one of the bridge's towers. "Uh, oh." He made a quick turn. "Whew! I'm okay! Just forgot to compensate for the wind drag on my bo staff."

Dante raised his eyebrow. "How can he be so calm about this?"

"He was always like that when it comes to testing things," Raph said.

"He's a regular Frankenstein," Mikey said.

Then Donny rang out, "Guys, I'm picking up something strange down in the river."

"What is it?" asked Leo.

"It looks like," Donny said as he flew over a spot by the docks. "They're searching for something under the water."

"Who's searching for what?" asked Dante. But he had a feeling he already knew the answer to the first part of the question.

"It's our ninja buddies again," Donny said. "And it looks like they have that stolen sword rigged up to some kind of vibrational cannon."

"Just tell us where you are and we'll back you up."

"I'm over Pier 16."

"We're there," Leo said, leading the turtles and Dante off the bridge and ran toward the pier.

Then what Donny said next made their hearts stop. "I'm going in for a closer - WHOOOOOAAAAA!"

"Donny?" asked Dante, worried. "What's wrong?" Then he and the turtles watched in horror as Donny lost control of the glider, accidentally flew into the beam and crashed into the water. "DONNY!"

For a few minutes, they heard nothing on their Shell Cell. Then their worry turned to relief when they heard Donny's voice say, "Man! That water stinks! And this is from a turtle who lives in a sewer."

"Yes!" The three turtles and Dante cheered.

Eventually, the three turtles and Dante found the boat in which the cannon was mounted on. "There it is," Dante pointed out.

"We have a visual on the cannon," Leo said to Donny on his Shell Cell. "I just see two guys. But that just means the others are hiding."

Then Dante felt something. Like an instinct. "ABOVE!" He struck upwards with his tonfas, smacking three ninjas away.

"Oh, I hate it when he's right," Mikey said as more ninjas landed in front of them.

But the boys weren't afraid. They made a pose and said, "Let's...TURTLEIZE THEM!"

Dante stopped his fighting stance and looked back at them. "Seriously?"

"What, you got a better war cry?" asked Raph, punching a ninja from behind.

"Actually, I do." Dante grabbed a ninja doing a flying kick by the leg, shouted, "IT'S NINJA TIME!" and he tossed the ninja into five more ninjas.

Raph groaned in annoyance. "That is the lamest war cry I have ever heard!" He jumped over a ninja armed with a sword and slashed another with his sai blades.

"Like 'Turtleize them!' is any better?" Dante smacked two more ninjas with his tonfas.

At that moment, Donny hopped out of the water to join the fight, smacking two ninjas into the water before jumping onto one of the boats.

(!)

Back at the cannon, the scientists operating the cannon said, "We found what we were looking for! Bring in air support!"

(!)

Mikey found himself finding three ninjas on the boat. "Avast, ye scurvy seadogs!" he shouted, making the worst pirate accent Dante he had ever heard. "Shiver me timbers, blow me down!" Then he found himself cornered. "Uh, okay, about that blow me down part..." At that moment, a sail landed on the three ninjas, stopping them from attacking him. "Thanks, Leo." Mikey smirked at his brother, the one who cut the sail.

Then Dante pointed at something in the sky. "Bros! Look!" It was a helicopter positioned over the hole the cannon was making in the water. The turtles and Dante watched as the helicopter lowered a hook into the water and pulled out what looked like some sort of headless robotic body covered in barnacles and seaweed. Then the technicians shut down the cannon.

"What's up with Barnacle Bill?" joked Mikey.

"Whatever it is it can't be good," said Raph.

The turtles rushed to the cannon and surrounded the two operators. "Now boys," Leo said. "There's the small matter of stolen property we need to discuss."

The scientists tried to run only to be blocked by Donny. "Dudes, you really shouldn't be playing with such dangerous toys."

Finding themselves cornered, the scientists tried to fight back with tasers and stun guns only to be kicked aside by Leo. Unfortunately, one of the tasers zapped the controls to the cannon, making it spark and fizz. The scientists tried to stop it, but there was nothing they could do. "It's overloading," one of them said. "I can't control it!"

"Who cares," the second said. "We're leaving!"

And before the turtles could catch them, the scientists escaped via the helicopter lowering a ladder. "Come back here!" Dante shouted.

"Forget them," Donny said. "I think we've got bigger problems."

Indeed, they did. The malfunctioning cannon started to veer off course and pointed itself directly at the city! "It's causing an earthquake," Dante shouted.

"Talk about your bad vibes," Mikey said.

Raph slapped him. "Not funny, Mikey!"

"Don," asked Leo. "Can you shut it down?"

Donny began to tinker with the machine. "Well, I might be able to disconnect the sword from the accelerator, but crossing the power terminator could result in a feedback loop that might -"

"SHUT UP AND TURN THE DANG THING OFF ALREADY!" shouted Dante.

"And in the meantime," said Leo. "Let's push this thing away from civilization!"

Raph, Leo, Mikey and Dante pushed the cannon's aim away from the city and toward the river. Unfortunately, their actions were not unnoticed. The sounds of sirens were getting closer then a man's voice on a megaphone shouted, "This is the police! You on the pier, stay where you are!"

"Hurry up Donny," Dante shouted. "We're about to be on Court TV!"  
(TruTV was once called Court TV prior to 2008.)

"Almost there..." But whatever Donny did, it made the cannon spin wildly, and it was still firing its beam.

"We gotta steady this thing" shouted Leo. He saw a crowbar and got an idea. He jammed it into the cannon's gears, stopping it, but still could not stop the beam. Donny reached for it, but recoiled in pain. "Here," Leo cried. "Try this!" He tossed Donny a silver glove and he put it on. This made the cannon start to shake and vibrate. The turtles and Dante knew one thing.

"It's going to blow," shouted Dante.

The brothers ran as fast as they could, just in time. The cannon fell into the river before it exploded in a blue light. "Whoa," said Mikey. "Awesome light show."

After that, the turtles fled back to the sewers before police arrived.

(!)

Master Splinter, wearing the silver glove, inspected the sword. "The design is unmistakably eleventh century Japanese, but the metal is unlike any I have ever seen." He walked to a table and placed the sword on it. "Clearly there is more to this sword than meets the eye. Best that it remain out of the wrong hands."

(!)

In Saki's skyscraper, Saki was very displeased even as he eyed the piece of robotic tech that had been fished out of the river. "For a long time, longer than any of you could possibly imagine, my enemies have managed to elude me. Here at last is proof of their presence in this city. And all it cost me was the SWORD OF TENGU!" He punched a column in anger, denting it.

The two scientists operating the cannon trembled. "Master, there were...extenuating circumstances," they said. "There was this boy and these four creatures! They came from nowhere!"

Saki held up the thermal vision picture of said boy and creatures. "Were these the boy and creatures you saw?" The scientists nodded. "That will be all." He dismissed them. But when the scientists opened the door, they were greeted by Hun who took them away.

Saki placed the picture on his table and put his clawed gauntlet on his left hand. "These thorns in my side must be removed. PERMANENTLY!" And he stabbed the picture in anger.


	7. Chapter 7

_My name is Raphael. Ever see one of those old movies where the private eye wakes up after being knocked out cold? He always says the same thing:_ _''Ugh. Where am I?'' Okay, so it's not exactly original, but it's true. I have no idea where I am. Is this an operating room? Torture chamber? TV game show? Last thing I remember, I was bapping a bunch of street thugs with Casey. Hey, where_ is _Casey? Okay, definitely not the game show._

(!)

Oroku Saki sat by his table while Hun looked at a thermal image of the turtles and Dante, which is in front of various other papers. Hun said as he looked at the image, "A boy and his pet gecko warriors. Karate frogs. Turtle costumed freaks." He crumpled the image and tossed it aside.

At that moment Baxter Stockman appeared and picked up the image. He took one look at it and laughed. "Is this a field report or a fantasy novel?"

Saki slapped the picture out of his hands and shouted, "Fool! Was it _fantasy_ that destroyed _your_ mouser robots, Doctor Stockman!?" Then he turned to Hun. "Was it _fantasy_ that took back the Sword of Tengu from _your_ Foot soldiers!? This boy and these green skinned ninjas are too skilled to be mere street thugs."

"Maybe they're working for your old enemies," suggested Hun.

Stockman theorized, "More likely a top-secret government experiment."

Saki lifted him up by the collar of his coat. "I am not interested in theories!" And he tossed Stockman to the ground. "I want answers. You two will work together." Hun and Stockman glared at each other, but Saki was having none of it. "Find the boy. Find these creatures. Learn their secrets. Destroy them, if necessary."

(!)

Meanwhile, at the lair, Splinter lit a candle and turns to face the turtles and Dante. They were standing on top of bamboo posts. "My sons, tonight our training shall focus on combining two essential disciplines: The way of balance..." He clapped the lights off. "...and the way of invisibility."

Mikey turned to Donny. "Dude, you put in the clapper?" He got slapped with Splinter's walking stick. "Ow!"

"Michelangelo, the way of invisibility also includes the way of silence. I suggest you employ both if you wish to avoid my walking stick."

"Hey, that's not fair!" said Dante. "You're a rat! You can see in the dark naturally!" Splinter swung the stick at him, but when Dante heard it swish in the air, he dodged just in time. "Whoa. How was I...?"

"A true ninja relies on his other senses when one of them is robbed of him. You relied on your ears when your eyes cannot see. I think that's fair, don't you think?"

Next, Splinter landed near Leo. He tried to hit Leo, but Leo flipped over him and landed on another pole. Donnie tried to hit Splinter, but Splinter ducked. Raph did a flying kick, only to be pushed away by the rat.

Then Mikey decided to be sneaky. As soon as he knew Splinter was in front of him, he clapped on the lights. "Peekaboo, I see you." He grabbed Splinter's stick as he attacked, but Splinter used that to throw him off balance as he nearly fell all the way off. "Hey, don't I at least get points for creativity?" he asked as he climbed back up.

"A creative mind must be balanced by a disciplined body," Splinter said as he clapped off the lights. "We must learn stillness and alertness, for they are the only defense against the unexpected."

He picked the wrong time to say that for at that moment, Casey Jones entered the lair via the elevator. Unable to see in the dark, he bumped into the bamboo posts and they and the turtles, Dante and Splinter tumbled down like dominoes. Upon seeing Casey, Splinter tackled him to the ground and pinned him down. The turtles and Dante ran up to them, turning on the lights.

"Master Splinter, no! He's okay!" shouted Leo.

"Sensei, this is Casey," introduced Donny. "The nutca-uh the guy we told you about."

"Remember?" asked Dante. "The vigilante? We figured it'd be okay to give him access to the lair. And believe us, we trust him as much as we trust April. Heck, he knows April!"

Splinter then relented and backed off. "Please forgive my rash action."

Casey dusted himself off and lifted his hockey mask up. "No problemo."

Splinter poked him with the walking stick, warning him, "Although next time, you would be wise to heed the ancient Japanese proverb, 'Phone first.'" And he walked away to pick up the bamboo.

Casey looked around, and awed at the lair. "Whoa! Raph, your crib's even more awesome than you said."

"You didn't come all the way down here for the nickel tour," said Raph. "What's the 411 street-side?"

"Graffiti. It's everywhere. All over town."

The turtles and Dante raised an eyebrow. "Uh, Casey?" asked Dante. "Have you been sleeping under a rock in New Jersey all this time? We're in New York City! There's graffiti everywhere!"

"Uh uh. Not this kind." Casey held up a picture. "I thinks somebody's trying to send you a message." The turtles and Dante gasped at the graffiti in the picture. It depicted four turtles and a black stickman being skewered on a samurai sword.

Mikey turned greener than normal. "Blech! Talk about getting the point!"

"Do all the tags look like this?" Leo asked Casey.

"Some are a little _more_ graphic." Then he saw the sword the boys stole from those ninjas at the East River. "Hey, cool sword. Looks just like the one in the graffiti." He reached for it...

"DON'T TOUCH IT!" shouted Dante.

Too late. Casey touched the sword, got electrocuted and was sent flying into a bookcase.

"Remind me, who's idea was it to invite him down here?" Donny asked, giving Raph the stink eye.

Splinter said, helping Casey up, "I thank you for this information, Mr. Jones, but now we must return to our training."

"Wait," said Casey. "Don't you guys wanna put the smack-down on the scum who did this?"

Mikey looked at the picture again. "Well, yeah. But it smells way too much like a set-up."

Donny nodded. "Someones just trying to get under our shells. Why should we stoop to their level?"

Casey protested, "But this is a matter of honor! What about all that bushidoodoo stuff you guys always talk about?"

"That's Bushido," Leo corrected. "Which has nothing to do payback for a bunch of nasty wall doodles."

"Yeah," said Dante. "That crud might work with street gangs but not with ninjas."

Casey turned to Raph, hoping he would back him up, but to his disappointment, Raph said, "Sorry, Case. I gotta go with my bros on this one."

"Oh man!" But then the vigilante perked up when he saw the TV and made himself at home. "So what's on the tune?"

"A burden has been placed on us," Dante said.

(!)

Back at Saki's skyscraper lair, Doctor Stockman presented his newest creation to his master. "While your oversized lackey," he gave a glare to Hun. "wastes time and effort with the pointless scribblings of street thugs, I have created something useful to intercept this boy and his pet amphibious pests. I give you, the Foot Tech Ninjas!" The Foot Tech Ninjas wore blue cybernetic armor with a button shaped like the three toed dragon's foot symbol of the Foot Clan on their chest.

Stocmkan continued as they demonstrated their capabilities. "My brilliantly designed cyber armor enhances their physical abilities, giving them increased strength, speed, and stealth capabilities." Eventually one ninja activated a cloaking device. The visible ninja looked around and gets hit from behind. He quickly turned and punched the invisible ninja into a torch, knocking it over.

"And all thanks to the technology I was able to glean from a tiny sample of this unusual artifact you dragged up from the East River," Stockman said as he walked to the metal skeleton in the display case. "If you had any sense, you'd allow me to study the entire thing." Hun grabbed him and carried him by the shoulder to Saki. "Ow, ow, ow, ow, ow, ow, ow, ow, ow, ow, ow, ow, ow, ow, ow, ow, ow, ow!"

"First thing's first, Doctor Stockman," Saki growled. "Bring me the creatures and the boy."

Hun dropped Stockman who glared at him, "Just keep this behemoth out of my way, and my foot tech ninjas will deliver the goods. I guarantee it."

"You already paid the price for failing me once. Do not fail me a second time."

Stockman unconsciously rubbed the eyepatch where his left eye used to be.

(!)

Back at the lair, the turtles, Splinter and Dante were getting bothered by their guest eating them of their house and home. Leo made a fake yawn. "Woo, sure is getting, uh, late."

Casey took a box of DVDs from under the coffee table. "These the only DVDs you got?"

Mikey said, hoping he would leave, "Yeah. In fact, why don't you borrow some and bring them back?"

Casey walked to the DVD player. "That's okay. I'll just watch them here." But when he found himself having trouble with the eject button, his anger rose. "Come on, eject, eject. You useless piece of-" He smashed the machine, and Dante and Mikey let out a screech of horror. "Uh, think your player's broken."

"Uh no problem," Donny said, working on a piece of equipment. "I'll fix it. In the morning?"

Casey asked, "Whatcha working on?"

Donny hid his work. Boring stuff. Really really boring stuff."

Casey, seeing no fun here, saw Raph training. "Hey Raph! Let's wrestle!" The two hotheads wrestled and trash talked each other until Splinter stopped them.

"Raphael," he said. "Normally I discourage excursions to the surface, but I think it wise to take our 'guest' for a breath of fresh air."

Raph grinned instantly. "Topside? I'm all over it."

Raph and Casey continued to trash talk each other even as they went to the surface.

Dante sighed in relief. "Whew. I thought he'd never leave."

Mikey nodded as he flopped on the couch, "And that's how they defeated the Thing That Wouldn't Leave."

Dante started to walk out the door. "I better catch up with them."

"Is that such a wise idea?" asked Leo.

"Do you honestly trust Raph and Casey not to get into any trouble?"

The turtles and Splinter looked at each other.

"You better go after them," said Leo.

Dante headed for the door, only to be stopped by Splinter. "Please be careful."

"I will."

(!)

It didn't take long for Dante to find Casey and Raph; just follow the sound of trash talking on the roof.

"Hey, slowpoke!" Raph called out. "Finally decided to catch up with us?"

"Who are you calling a slowpoke, pig-head?"

"Hey, no one calls my friend a pig-head, shorty," Casey shouted.

Raph's eyes widened. "Uh oh. Now you've done it."

"What?"

Casey got his answer when he saw Dante's eyes twitching angrily. Then he yelled and swung his tonfas at him. "SHORTY?! COULD A SHORTY DO THIS?! WHAT ELSE DO YOU WANT TO CALL ME, A HALF PINT? BEAN SPROUT? MIDGET?! I'M STILL GROWING YOU OVERSIZED GORILLA!"

Casey held Dante back with his hockey stick. "Easy, small fry, I didn't mean anything!"

That made his situation worse. Dante yelled, "I AM NOT SMALL!"

"Whoa, whoa, hold on!"

"I'm doing no such thing until I make your feet your ears!"

"Seriously, stop!" Dante stopped when he heard what Casey was hearing. "Spray paint?"

They looked down from the roof they're on and saw two Purple Dragon thugs making a purple tag of a dragon devouring four turtles and a black stick man while a third thug kept watch. Raph and Casey dropped down in between them before Dante could stop them.

"Hi," said Raph. "We're the Neighborhood Clean and Green. Doing our part to stamp out taggers."

"Dude, you're totally stealing my act," Casey said to Raph.

While the two hotheads fought, Dante watched from the rooftop. "And I have to cool them down again." Suddenly, he felt a presence behind him. He looked, but saw no one. "Hello?" Suddenly, three ninjas in blue armor appeared. "Whoa! Where did you come from?" Then he saw the red three toed dragon's foot. "You're more of those ninjas?" They said nothing and disappeared again. "Where-" His words were cut off when a pair of invisible hands put him in a sleeper hold. He stopped struggling when he lost consciousness.

(!)

When Dante awoke he found himself in what looked like a strange sort of laboratory and strapped to an operating table. "Where am I? Hello? Anybody?" No answer. Then suddenly, a bright light flashed in his eyes. "Ugh!"

"Well, well, well, it's so nice to see you again."

Dante recognized that voice. "Doctor Baxter Stockman. How's the bank stealing and killer robots game treating you?"

"Not so well since you and those creatures and Miss O'Neil destroyed them," the doctor said. It was then that Dante got a good look at him.

"What happened to your eye?"

"My punishment for you and your friends' meddling. But enough about me. Let's talk about you."

"I'd rather not."

Stockman slapped him. "Enough games! Who do you work for? What government agency created your friends and trained you with those oriental fighting skills?"

"Do I look like I work for the government to you? I'm just an ordinary New Yorker."

"Liar! I know those turtle freaks of yours didn't come from a pet store."

"How about I ask you a question instead," Dante glared, trying to wriggle his wrist out of his bond. "You work for those ninjas, the ones with the red dragon's foot? Who is your master?"

"I ask the questions around here. And if you're not careful..." Stockman warned as he inched a bone saw near his neck. "My thug friend in the other room will dissect your turtle friend and we'll use his DNA to find out your origins."

Raph! "No!"

"Then you better tell us who you work for! Or your friend's life is forfeit"

(!)

Back in the lair, the turtles and Splinter are training in the dark again when Casey stumbled in, dazed and bruised. He fell flat on his face, knocking all the bamboo posts down again. Splinter clapped on the lights.

"You can almost set your watch by this guy," Mikey said.

Leo said as he picked his friend up, "Casey, what happened?"

Splinter demanded, "Where are Dante and Raphael?"

"The invisible ninjas took him."

Mikey laughed at that. "Invisible ninjas, huh? This story wouldn't involve Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny, by any chance?"

"I got proof!" Casey took an orange optic lens from his pocket. A lens from his and Raph's fight with the invisible ninjas. Donny inspected it. "Oh, some kind of optical device. Heavy duty hardware."

Leo tried contacting his missing brothers. "They're not answering their Shell Cells."

Casey let out a yell of frustration and started throwing things. "This is all my fault!"

Donny activated a signal on his own Shell Cell. "Don't worry. I installed tracking chips in all the Shell Cells. Just in case." Nothing. "Interesting. Not picking up a signal."

Casey yelled again. "Aah, we'll never find them!" And he kicked the sofa.

Donny said, "I may be able to calibrate the scanner to trace the comms signal from your 'invisible ninjas'."

Mikey shouted, "Better make it fast. We're running out of furniture."

(!)

Back in the lab, Stockman loomed over Dante. "Well, your friend in the other room provoked Hun. It seems like your talk was for nothing."

"Please," Dante shouted. "I told you! We're not working with anyone! No government, no aliens! We're just ordinary New Yorkers! Please, let him go!"

"I'm afraid that's not good enough," Stockman said. "Perhaps a little heart to heart talk with our master will reveal some things."

"Who is he? Or she?"

Suddenly, there was a loud thudding sound outside the door. "What in blazes?" Stockman asked as he walked to the door...only for it to crash into him as Raph kicked it down. "Raph!" Dante shouted.

"Hold still." Raph cut the bonds with his sai blades. "They got you too, huh? Those invisible ninjas?"

"Yeah. They snuck up on me."

"Come on, let's get out of here."

They ran outside the lab only to find themselves on a boat in the middle of the river. "Good thing turtles are amphibious," Raph said.

"And it's a good thing I practiced holding my breath for an hour."

They didn't know that those invisible ninjas were following them back to the city.

(!)

Back in the boat's lab, Stockman raved at Hun. "You fool! I was this close to obtaining a DNA sample, and you let them escape!"

Hun wasn't worried. In fact, he was smiling wickedly "Precisely. I _let_ them escape. To lead us to the others. Even as we speak, a squad of Foot Tech Ninjas are trailing them. So now it's all up to your invisible boys. Better hope they don't blow it.

Doctor Stockman rubbed his eyepatch.

(!)

Meanwhile, Don got a blip on his scanner. "I'm getting two signals. It's Raph and Dante!"

Casey cheered, "Woo-hoo!" And accidentally knocked off a lamp.

Mikey groaned. "This guys bad news even when there's _good_ news."

"It's faint," said Donny. "But at least we got two blips we can follow." Then his eyes widened. "Make that several blips."

Leo voiced his concern. "The 'invisible ninjas'' signal?"

Splinter knew at once what that meant. "Raphael and Dante may not even be aware they are being followed."

"Which means we gotta find they before they bring in some seriously unwanted house guests."

"We already got one of those," Mikey said, gesturing to Casey.

Casey asked, "So, uh, how do we stop something we can't see?"

Donny reached into his duffel bag. "Already got that one covered: Turtle vision heat sensor goggles. After all, an invisible body is still a warm body."

Leo nodded, putting on the goggles. "Let's go."

Mikey laughed at Casey. "That's a good look for you."

(!)

Somewhere in the sewers, Raph and Dante continued running. That's when Dante heard more footsteps behind him. "I think we're being followed," he whispered.

"I know," Raph said. "I'm stalling. Hopefully the others will find us before they catch on."

Then they reached a portion of a sewer with a huge drain in the center. Dante could hear the invisible ninjas right behind him. He was about to ready his tonfas when he and Raph suddenly looked up and saw Leo and Donny. "Hey! Huh?"

"BANZAI!" The two turtles shouted and began to fight...nothing?"

"What are you guys doing, doing a mime act?" asked Dante.

"Ever hear the one about the invisible ninjas?" Donny asked, passing them each a pair of goggles. Soon Casey and Mikey joined in. "Hey," the former said. "Did I mention that these guys were really strong too?"

Leo groaned, "Might've been useful info."

One of the ninjas went invisible before Dante could throw a strike with his tonfas. He readied himself. "I'm not falling for that again." Then he heard someone behind him and struck the invisible ninja between the legs, making him topple over. "Lucky shot. I didn't even target that."

Raph found himself in trouble when more of the ninjas turned invisible. "Come on! Show yourself, you lousy-" He started to get beat up and he couldn't do anything to stop them.

Mikey said, "Uh think we should give him a hand?"

!Casey swung his golf club. "Fore!" and struck some dust from the ground and onto the ninjas, making them visible.

Raph smiled. "Ah, much better." and he kicked them away.

"Now you see 'em," Mikey joked as he struck two more ninjas with his nunchucks. "now you don't."

Donny inspected one ninja's armor as he fought him with his bo staff. "Their cloaking controls look to be somewhere around the chest plate."

"You mean here?" Leo asked as he slashed one of the ninja's chest plates and turned off the cloak. He then gave the ninja a kick and sent him flying.

Donny smiled proudly. "Can I call them or what?"

Raph finished off the last ninja and put his sai away. "So, I guess that's that?"

No. Casey was held over the drain by one of the ninjas. "Drop your weapons and surrender. My grip is loosening. I suggest you drop your weapons. Now."

"Don't do it, guys! I'm not worth it!"

Donny said, "You know, he's got a point."

"You're starting to sound like Mikey, Don," Leo said as he and his brothers dropped their weapons.

Then Raph noticed someone missing. "Hey, where _is_ Mikey?"

What the ninja and the brothers didn't know was that Mikey was directly above the ninja. He whispered, imitating Splinter, "The way of balance, and the way of invisibility." Then he dropped down and kicked the ninja holding Casey, causing them both to fall. Don grabbed his staff and reached over. Casey grabbed it just in time and gave Don a thumbs up. Don flung him back onto the ground, and Casey pulled out his baseball bat, and he, along with the other four turtles and Dante, attacked the ninjas, sending them into the whirlpool.

Casey helped himself up. "Thanks, guys. I owe you."

Michelangelo giggled. "We take cash, personal checks and most major credit cards."

Casey stretched. "Man, I'm beat. Maybe I should just crash at you guys' place tonight." He didn't notice Dante sneak up behind him and knock him out cold.

The turtles looked at him. "What?" asked Dante. "We were all thinking the same thing. Come on. Help me lift him up and take him home."

(!)

Back at Saki's skyscraper, Saki glared at Stockman. "Another operation marred by the sickening stench of defeat! No doubt you are both well aware of my extremely limited tolerance of failure!"

Stockman became afraid. "It was _his_ fault! This bumbling oaf let the boy and the creature escape!"

Saki grabbed Stockman by the throat. "The plan was sound. And yet _your_ creations failed to, as you put it, 'Deliver the goods.'" He tossed them away and into the arms of the Foot Tech Ninjas who dragged him away.

"Wait, where are you taking me? Take your hands off me! I made you! I am your creator!" The door closed.

Saki turned to Hun. "What did you learn from yours and Stockman's interrogation?"

"I've worked over a lot of tough guys in my day, but I'm telling you, these turtles never even heard of your enemies, let alone _worked_ for them."

Saki rubbed his chin. "Hmm. Then perhaps they can be useful to me when the time comes to confront those enemies."

(!)

Somewhere in an unknown location, a man in a blue trench coat approached three other men in business suits. "It _is_ true. Our enemy has discovered our presence in this city.

When the three men spoke, they spoke at the same time and monotonously. "And what of the four mutant creatures and the boy?"

"Still an unknown factor. We need more information. As for the boy, he's grown strong."

The three men nodded. "Monitor the boy and his progress as well as the turtles. Learn all you can about them. If they pose no threat, do not engage them. But if they are in the employ of our enemy, take the necessary steps to neutralize them."

The man bowed and was dismissed.


	8. Chapter 8

_My name is Donatello. Here's another fine mess we've gotten ourselves into...literally. This has been one strange night, believe me, but no matter how weird it's been up 'til now, we never expected this..._

(!)

Dante and his brothers (the latter four garbed in the trench coats and fedora hats April gave them) were scavenging for whatever they could find in the dumpster while a group of hobos watched them. Normally, this would put them in a fit of panic since they knew who they were and what they were, but the hobos have known the turtles, Splinter and Dante for so long, they've gotten used to them.

While his brothers scrounged for whatever, Mikey decided to pass the time by doing tricks on his skateboard. Much to Raph's annoyance. "Hey, Don," Raph said as he wiped a red gunk off his hand. "You don't want something so gross that you don't want to touch it, right?"

Donny smiled. "If it's gonna improve the lair, we can use it."

"Question," Dante asked, watching Mikey with envy. "Why does Mikey get to play while we do all the work?"

"Do you want Mikey happy or Mikey bored."

Dante paused for thought. "Good point."

When they were finished, the brothers walked up to the hobos. "Hey, thanks letting us use the shopping cart, guys," Dante called out.

"Hope you found some useful items amidst the refuse," a black hobo said. "My green amphibious friends."

"Sure did, Professor," Donny said. This hobo was called the Professor due to how smart he was. Not as smart as Donny, but just as smart. "Here are some things we picked up for you," the Professor said as he dug his hands into a trash bag. "An undamaged cirquit board for Donatello. A near mint condition comic for Michelangelo. Last time you said you were collecting them."

"Thanks, Professor."

Donny ran back to the Battle Shell and came back with a bundle of clothing. "Here, we brought some blankets and warm clothes. They're a little warn, but they should help at night."

The hobos took them with gratitude. "One man's refuse is another man's treasure," the Professor said.

"Just don't be a hoarder," Dante said. "Treasure or trash, no one likes a hoarder."

"Agreed," the Professor said. "You know, there is a theory that we are all recycled." The hobos groaned like this is not the first time the Professor had a theory. "The Big Bang Theory," he continued. "Says that all matter has been exploding then imploding then exploding again and again since the beginning of time. Our very molecules are being recycled." Everyone except for Donny looked at him, confused at what he said.

"You know," said Donny. "I just finished a book on the Big Bang. I'll bring it by later."

"Much obliged, Donatello, much obliged."

Then Raph noticed something. "Hey, are there fewer of you here than usual?"

"A lot of guys've gone missing lately," one of the hobos said. "Plus it's weird. They don't take their stuff."

"I have a theory about that," the Professor said, much to everyone's sans Donny's annoyance. Then the Professor said in a grave voice, "There has been talk of a terrifying figure who takes us away in the dead of night. His whispered in fear. They call him the Garbageman."

There was a pause. Then the brothers laughed. "You almost had me going there," Raph said. "Garbageman. Geez. Gotta roll guys."

"Be sure to let me know if your friends show up," Donny said before he and his brothers left for the Battle Shell. "Or if anyone else disappears."

(!)

On their way back home, Mikey said, "That was majorly creepy. You think any of it is true?"

"Whatever it is," said Donny. "If the Professor is worried, we should take it seriously."

"Seriously, huh?" asked Raph. "Guess that leaves Mikey out."

Mikey frowned at him. "What?"

Suddenly, the distress beacon went off. "That's the Professor's signal," Donny exclaimed. He ran to the Shell Cycle. "I'll go on ahead!"

(!)

When the boys regrouped at the junk yard, they found no one. The only signs of a struggle were crashed fences, tyre tracks in the dirt and hydraulic fluids that belonged to a large truck. "All I know is something attacked them," Donny said. "It was really big and really dangerous."

"Hope they're okay," Mikey said.

"Don," said Leo. "Can you run an internet search on police reports?"

"Already checked. Nothing on missing homeless. Nobody's noticed."

"Or cared," Dante said.

"Meanwhile," said Raph. "Somebody's snatching our buds."

"We need to hit the streets," said Leo.

"It's trench coat wearing time!" cheered Mikey.

"Again," groaned Dante.

(!)

For hours, the turtles and Dante traveled around New York City, asking the entire homeless community on anything that could have happened to the Professor or if there were any whereabouts about the "Garbageman". But other than rumors, they heard nothing.

(!)

Back in the lair, Donny typed away at his computer. "Have you got anything, Don?" Leo asked.

"Virtually everyone we talked to knew someone who had disappeared. I programed a marker for each one." On the map, blips appeared near the water.

"Looks like all the action's down by the docks," Mikey said.

"Then that's our next stop."

(!)

Dante groaned as he sat by a barrel with a fire in it. And he was back to wearing his old rags. "Why do I have to be the bait?" Dante asked to his Shell Cell. "Isn't that Mikey's job?"

"HEY!"

"Sorry, Dante," Donny said. "But your clothes can only fit you."

They waited a few more minutes, but nothing happened. "All right," Donny said. "Come back, Dante."

"Thank god." Suddenly, red lights shone on him. Red lights belonging to the headlights of a giant truck!

The Battle Shell zoomed forward, blocking the truck and allowing Dante to hop inside. The Battle Shell zoomed on, but the giant truck gave chase. Raph growled as the truck rammed the Battle Shell's rear. "It's a garbage truck! A stinking garbage truck!"

"Garbageman drives garbage truck," pointed out Mikey. "What's your problem, Raph?"

Suddenly, the truck moved past the Battle Shell and started picking up speed. "Don't let him escape," shouted Dante.

"Hit it Raph," ordered Leo.

Suddenly, the back of the truck opened and a flamethrower. Mikey let out a squeal as the fire consumed them...but the Battle Shell sustained no damage. Dante gave Mikey a weird look. "The car's flameproof, remember?"

"Oh. Right. Sorry about the girly scream."

The garbage truck attacked the boys again. "I don't know about you, but I've had enough of this!" Raph shouted as he slammed a button on the control pad. Missile launchers popped out of the Battle Shell and the front became a battering ram. Raph slammed the battering ram into the truck, knocking it off course. "You like that, then you're going to love this!"

"May I?" asked Donny.

"After you."

Donny pressed a button and the missiles fired and hit the garbage truck. Everyone cheered, but they stopped when they saw that not only was it undamaged, it was still moving! "We need bigger missiles," Mikey said.

Then the truck pulled a trick of its own and shot an oil slick onto the road. The Battle Shell spun out of control, making everyone dizzy and Mikey turn greener than normal. Unfortunately, Dante turned a shade of green as well. "I'm gonna barf."

When the Battle Shell started to veer out of control, Donny fired a grappling hook out from the back and it latched itself onto a wall preventing it from falling into the water.

The boys hopped out and watched as the truck continued to drive away and toward the water. "He's gonna run out of road. He has to stop." But instead, the truck drove off the docks and into the water. The brothers were stunned. "Or not."

Mikey did a little cheerleader move: T!M!T! What you got is what you see!"

No one was amused. "Stop embarrassing yourself," Dante said.

They watched as the truck sank into the water. "Someone has to come out."

"I've got a few things to discuss with him," Raph said.

To their shock, the truck started moving as though it was a submarine toward a small island.

(!)

Back in the lair, the turtles and Dante (back in his regular clothes) discussed what happened. "So," said Donny. "Turns out that island is the best-run landfill operation not just in the city but in the entire country."

"Best-run doesn't mean best," said Leo. "It just means most profitable."

"Come on Leo," Raph said. "What could they be really up to out there? They're right in the middle of the city harbor!"

"If business is as good as Don says, anything they want to. A few payoffs in the right hands can go a long way."

"Agreed," said Dante. "We need to check this place out."

Mikey nodded and did a Terminator impersonation. "Something stinks on that island and it ain't the garbage."

Raph laughed. "Yeah, keep trying Mikey. Someday, you'll get a winner."

"Hey, come on, that was pretty good!"

(!)

The turtles and Dante silently swam toward the island. "It looks harmless," Donny said.

"It's quiet," Leo said. "Maybe too quiet."

"See," complained Mikey. "How does Leo make _that_ line work?"

"Enough. Let's go."

(!)

Soon, they reached the garbage-covered shore, and leaped over huge mounds of trash. Mikey suddenly stepped in something orange. "Ew. I don't even want to know what I just stepped in."

"Mikey, focus!" shouted Raph.

Suddenly, lights came and the brothers hid as a jeep with two soldiers in it drove by.

Quietly, the brothers climbed over one giant mound and looked down. They gasped at what they saw. All the missing homeless in a glowing orange pit, being slaved away while more of the soldiers watched over them. The watchtowers around the pit made it look like a prison yard. When a homeless fell down, a soldier zapped him with a cattle prod.

"This is making me sick," Raph growled. He was about to attack, but Leo stopped him.

Suddenly, the ground shook as something started to rise out of the orange muck. It was the garbage truck! Then the back of the truck opened up. Something wheeled itself out: it was the ugliest, dirtiest and fattest man the turtles had ever seen. He was in a wheel chair shaped like a garbage truck with robotic arms in the back. The man's laugh was oily and had a slur in it.

"That is the most disgusting thing I have ever seen," Mikey said, scrunching his nose.

"Just this once," Raph said. "I totally agree with you."

The man, no doubt the Garbageman, turned on a microphone. "Greetings...filth! Garbage is power!"

"If that is true," Mikey said. "Then this guy is Superman."

"Before I brought you to this island," the Garbageman continued. "You were nothing but human garbage. No home. No purpose. No value. But now, I have recycled you, given you work shifting through the refuse that the city's stupidly squandered to build my fortune. BEHOLD!" He gestured to the prison yard. "The birth of my empire! Invisible to the outside world until it is too late."

Then one homeless, the Professor, stood up. "I'd rather be a free man living on the streets than a slave in your stinking 'empire'!"

"GUARDS! SILENCE HIM! Get these ungrateful beasts back to work! NOW!"

The guards zapped the Professor.

"THAT'S IT!" shouted Raph as he and three of his brothers came out of their hiding spot. "Time to take out the trash!"

Mikey paused, then found a trash can lid. "New concept guys: garbage boarding!"

The turtles and Dante jumped into the prison yard. "COWABUNGA!" Mikey yelled as he flung the lid into a group of guards, knocking them out.

Leo and Raph used their blades to free the slaves from their chains. Now free, the slaves grabbed everything they can and started to fight the guards.

Donny helped the Professor up. "Professor, are you all right?"

"Never felt better, Donatello."

"Well, it looks like your buddies have the guards pretty much under control." He pointed to the homeless chasing away the guards.

"And may I take this opportunity to encourage you to kick that so-called Garbageman's stinking derriere?" He pointed to the obese tormentor.

The turtles and Dante nodded. "With pleasure," the latter said.

"What's this?" demanded the Garbageman. "They're sending freaks against me?! I'll dispose of this genetic refuse!"

"It's garbage day, fat man," Mikey taunted. "Time to kick your can out to the curb!"

"What?!"

"Uh...how about time to dump you in the dumpster, smelly boy?"

The Garbageman yelled, "You, shut up!" and tried to use the robotic arms on his chair to crush the brothers. Leo tried to attack, but the Garbageman's chair's robot arms blocked his swords. When the brothers prepared for an all out attack, the Garbageman fired missiles at them. They dodged them as well. Next the Garbageman sprayed oil at them, but Donny blocked the hose with his bo staff until it burst and splattered oil all over the obese man.

"I WILL RECYCLE YOU INTO THE GROUND!"

"Hey, garbage brain," Mikey taunted, making him back away as he moved forward. "If you smell as bad as you fight, then we are in trouble."

"I TOLD YOU TO **_SHUT UP_**!" The Garbageman then chased after the brothers, not noticing that Donny stayed behind and tried to mess with the chair's circuitry in the back. Only to be knocked aside by the Garbageman's robot arms. Then the arms grabbed Mikey and held him over the water. "Prepared to be recycled," he growled.

Suddenly, Donny threw a pipe into the circuitry, making the arms let go of Mikey. He grabbed onto the chair and leaped over the Garbageman just as said Garbageman lost control of the chair and fell off the cliff and into the water.

"For sure, he can't swim," Donny said.

"We gotta do something," Leo said.

"I knew you were going to say that," said Raph.

The boys dove into the water and looked around. Only to find nothing but an empty chair and no Garbageman. Where did he go?

(!)

At dawn, the homeless man watched the sun rise. "What's up, Professor?" asked Donny.

"We've voted to stay here," said the homeless genius, much to the brothers' confusion. "There's food and shelter here. The Garbageman was right about one thing: people do throw away a lot of valuable items."

"Watch out for him," Raph warned. "Something that evil always comes back."

Mikey kicked a pebble in frustration. "Now see?! That worked! How do you come up with those?"

"With recycling the old ones, Mikey. Keep looking for something new."


	9. Chapter 9

_My name is Casey Jones and I guess you could say I'm having a bad hair day, and a bad head day, and a bad neck day, and a bad shoulder day, and a bad pretty much everything right down to my pinky toe day. That walking landmass down there, I have him to thank for my current full body makeover._

"Tonight's cage match championship will determine which team will win the honor of ridding the Purple Dragons of a most hated enemy."

"Huh, I don't get it, who's that guy?"

"It's that vigilante!"

 _But somehow, I get the feeling it's about to get a whole lot worse._

(!)

Somewhere on the rooftops, the turtles, Dante and Casey Jones watched as a gang of Purple Dragons started a break in at an electronics store. They smashed the windows and started to steal all the TVs, game consoles and music players that weren't nailed down. As soon as the Dragons were done, the boys decided it was time to pounce. They jumped from the rooftop they were hiding on and dropped onto some of the Dragons. "You see, guys?" said Mikey. "You never know what fun you're going to find on the old training run!"

"Now class," said Leo. "Who can tell me what he," he pointed at one Purple Dragon with a tattoo of a dragon on his face. "Did wrong?"

"He picked the wrong night to go on a shopping spree?" Dante asked.

"How about the fact that he's a badly dressed, law breaking good-for-nothing lowlife street punk?" asked Raph.

Dragon Face let out a yell. "Bust em up, Dragons!"

Dante shook his head as he and his brothers and Casey easily pummeled the gang. "This is becoming a running gag."

"Yeah," said Donny as he kicked one Purple Dragon away. "When are they going to learn?"

"Green beats purple every time," Mikey said as he smacked two more Dragons with his nunchucks.

"They'll all be black and blue by the time I'm finished with them," Raph said.

"I call dibs on this one," Dante said as he grabbed a retreating purple-haired African American Dragon girl by the shoulders and pinned her to a wall.

"Wait," Casey said. "Put her down!"

"Sorry Case, I already said I called dibs."

"No, I know her! That's Angel!"

Dante gave him a confused look. "Who?" The girl, Angel, used this as an opportunity to kick the distracted Dante in the cheek and run away. She tried to climb a fence but Casey grabbed her leg.

"Let go of me, you creep!"

Casey lifted his hockey mask up. "Angel, it's me, Casey!"

"Casey?" Angel dropped down. "What are you doing here?"

"Stopping you from making the biggest mistake of your life."

"What? The Purple Dragons? Ah, no, they're my posse, my family!"

"But you've got real family at home."

Angel made a scoff. "Yeah, well who asked you, loser? If I wanna be a Purple Dragon, it's my own business!"

Casey frowned and twirled a hockey stick. "Until you start breaking the law. Then it's my business."

Angel picked up a bag of money she dropped. "Yeah, well, I don't see badge on you."

"And I see no dragon on you. Not yet. So why don't you quit while you still have a chance?"

Angel pointed a finger at him. "I ain't quitting nothing! Tonight was my first test! Tomorrow, I pass my initiation and then I'm gonna wear my dragon with pride." She tried to walk away, but Casey stopped her.

"That dragon comes with a price," he warned. "You don't know what you're getting yourself into."

"Listen to him," Dante said, recovered from the kick from earlier. "You join the Purple Dragons, you're going to suffer one of two things: jail time, or having the last thing you see be the barrel of a gun!"

"You stay out of this," Angel shouted.

"He's got a point," Casey said. "If you go down this path, you'll wind up in jail or six feet under! You have no idea what you're getting yourself into!"

"Yeah," Angel said softly. "Maybe I DON'T!" And she smacked Casey with the money bag. She took off running, but Dante grabbed her and trapped her in an head lock. Then he yelped when she bit his arm hard before retreating over the fence. "But I can still take care of myself!"

The turtles finally found Casey and Dante after that. "Casey, Dante, are you alright? Who was that girl?" Raph asked.

Casey groaned as he got up, "Her name's Angel. I know her from the neighborhood. I promised her grandmother I'd keep an eye on her. Keep her out of trouble."

"So she's a Purple Dragon?" asked Leo.

"Not if _I_ can help it," Casey swore angrily.

"How are you going to do that?" asked Dante.

"I know where the Dragons have their initiations: an old warehouse in Queens. The Dragons have cage matches there. Last man or woman standing and covered in the most bruises wins."

"We'll be there," Raph said.

"No," said Casey. "This is personal. I have to do this alone."

"Alone?" Raph exclaimed.

"Dude, you against a whole herd of Dragons," Mikey said. "Not one of the best ideas."

Casey laughed. "I'm full of bad ideas. Just be there if I don't call in ten minutes."

(!)

While Casey dealt with Angel, the boys returned to the lair while they waited for Casey's word. "Watcha doing, Don?" Mikey asked the genius turtle, who was busy tuning up the Battle Shell.

"Working up a remote control system for the Battle Shell."

"Sweet." Donny slapped him. "OW!"

"Don't touch! These are highly sophisticated sensors. When they receive a remote signal, they'll safely guide the Shell to the signal's point of origins."

"And this is the remote doohickey?" Mikey asked as he picked up a remote from the table.

"That's it. But it's not finished yet, so please don't..." The Battle Shell's engine started to rumble, much to Donny's horror.

"Uh," Mikey said sheepishly. "You were about to tell me not to touch this, right?"

Donny and Mikey jumped out of the way just in time. The Battle Shell spun around the lair, making Dante, Raph, Leo and Splinter scatter as it crashed through equipment and furniture before finally stopping when it hit a wall. Donny glared at a sheepish Mikey. Splinter approached the former. "Donatello, your Battle Shell is a marvel of engineering, a true testament to your incredible mechanical skills. And I never want to see it in our home again."

"Oops," said Mikey. Donny whacked him upside the head.

Suddenly, the alarm went off. "Someone's upstairs," Donny exclaimed. He checked the monitors. "Hey, is that...?"

(!)

At the warehouse, Angel looked around. "Raphael? Raphael!" No one answered. "This is Eastman and Laird, right?"

Suddenly, the lights went on and Angel found herself facing a black boy wearing a grey hooded sweater, blue denim pants and black shoes. She instantly recognized him. "Hey, you're that kid I bit back in the alley! Are you Raphael?"

"No. My name is Dante. Raphael's the name of my brother." He pointed behind her. She gasped when she saw four man-sized turtles wearing bandanas and carrying ninja weapons behind her.

"All right, kid," one of them said. "This had better be good."

(!)

Angel explained the situation as she rode in the Battle Shell with the turtles and Dante. Apparently, Casey tried to save her from the initiation, but got caught instead, so she was sent to get help. And boy, she did not expect the help to be four talking turtles. "Okay, I knew Casey hung out with some weird dudes, but you guys are off the charts!"

"You'll come to like us," Dante said.

"Compared to the others," she said. "You're pretty tame."

"Yeah. By the way..." And he bit Angel on the arm.

"OW!"

"That's for biting me in that alley."

Raph let out a groan. "No way am I going out like this." He was currently wearing street clothes Angel picked out. "Tell me people don't really dress this way?"

"It's a good look for you, Raph," Mikey laughed. "Kind of a hip hop, cat burglar, stormtrooper thing. Heh, heh."

"Don't laugh, green boy," Angel said. "You're next." Mikey frowned.

(!)

All the boys were garbed in the street clothes (Dante was back to wearing his old rags again, much to his dismay) Angel picked out, and followed her to the warehouse in Queens. "Just be cool and follow my lead," she said. She brought them past the guards, doing a three-fingered salute as they walked by.

"Good thing it's only a three fingered salute," Mikey said as they walked in.

The interior of the warehouse had been converted into a boxing ring, with an arena, stands and (surprisingly enough) a concession stand. And there were Purple Dragons all over the place. Some seniors, others initiates.

Mikey cringed. "Yeesh. It's like we walked into an ugly convention."

"Heh," chuckled Raph. "Then you must feel right at home, Mikey."

"Knock it off, guys," Donny said. "I'm trying to blend in here." Then he leaned against a wall with his arms crossed. The other three turtles did the same.

"You really wanna look like a Purple Dragon?" asked Raph. "Try getting your butt kicked by a ninja turtle."

"I'm down with that," Mikey agreed.

"Okay guys," Leo said. "Take note: we got exits there and there." He pointed to the exits. "Guards are posted around the perimeter. Everyone's pretty heavily armed, so can we _try_ to avoid a fight?"

"No," said Dante. Leo glared at him. "What? You know it's true."

Leo sighed. "Yeah. Right. What was I thinking?"

Suddenly, a cage was lowered over the arena and Hun stepped inside with a microphone. "Tonight's cage match championship will determine which team will win the honor of ridding the Purple Dragons of a most hated enemy." Casey Jones was lowered from the ceiling, tied to a Saint Andrew's cross and looking like he got run over by a bull. The Purple Dragons cheered as soon as they saw him.

Raph growled. "I got your hated enemy right here!"

"Easy Raph," Leo said. "Let's not blow our cover just yet."

The Dragons starting fighting with each other in the cage, each of them wanting to take the honor of being the one to kill Casey Jones.

"How are we going to get him down from there?" asked Donny.

"I know how to get to the catwalk," Angel said.

"Go with her," Leo ordered Angel, Dante, Donny and Mikey. "Nothing fancy. Just stick to the shadows, and cut him loose."

"And what are you and Raph going to do?" asked Mikey.

"We'll make sure that spotlight stays on the cage. Now go."

(!)

While Raph and Leo fought off the Dragons in the cage, Donny, Dante, Mikey and Angel walked along the catwalk, only to find that the controls to the left holding Casey's Saint Andrew's cross were guarded by two Dragons.

"We just have to take out those two goons without drawing too much attention," said Donny.

"Any bright ideas?" asked Mikey.

"I do," said Dante. "Follow my lead."

(!)

The two Dragons failed to notice a human boy and a turtle on the rafters above them until it was too late. The turtle and boy grabbed them by the necks with their legs and put them into a sleeper hold, knocking them out.

Donny and Dante let go of the rafters. "And you said watching too many Batman cartoons is bad for you," said Dante.

The turtles, Dante and Angel walked over to the controls. "Angel," exclaimed Casey. "Thanks for dropping by! And you brought company."

"Hey," said Donny. "What are friends for?" He pulled a lever, and brought the Saint Andrew's cross over to the catwalk. Then he used his bo staff to undo the locks and free Casey.

"Here, I brought you a present," Mikey said. He handed him a steel baseball bat.

"Uh, guys," Dante said. "The jig is up." He pointed down to the cage match.

Leo and Raph were stripped of their disguises.

"Hey, it's those kung fu lizards," one of them shouted.

"Turtles!" shouted Raph. "TURTLES! Don't you lame brains know a turtle when you see one?!"

"Uh, Raph," said Leo. "I think the biology lesson's the least of our problems right now!"

Indeed it was. Hun ripped open the cage door with his bare hands and stomped toward them. "YOU."

"What's the matter, lard butt," Raph taunted. "Disappointed my bro and I walked out on your Q&A?"

Hun grabbed him by the shoulders and slammed him against the bars. "In case you haven't figured it out, reptile, that time, I LET you escape!"

"Hate to breakup the tearful reunion!" Leo jumped onto Hun's shoulders and smacked his temples, making him let Raph go.

But now, they had to deal with a whole mob of Dragons to worry about. But not for long; Donny, Mikey and Dante leaped off the catwalk and jumped into the fray.

Back in the cage, Raph proceeded to beat up Hun, but to no avail. "Do me a favor," Raph shouted. "Be a good little mountain and just go - " He got punched into the cage wall. "...down."

Leo saw his brother was in trouble. Then he saw a way to save him. He cut a portion of the cage wall with his swords and tossed it at Hun, pinning him down. Hun countered back, tossing the cage wall back.

"Looks like our bros could use a hand," Donny said. He, Dante and Mikey jumped into the cage and kicked Hun into another wall of bars. But Hun, ever the stubborn bull, got back up.

"Don't look now," said Dante. "But I think Tiny wants to dance."

Hun ripped a portion of the wall out and brought the entire cage tumbling down like a house of cards onto the boys. While they struggled to get out, Hun took this opportunity to take Leo's swords and raise his arms to cut them down. Then he felt a tap on his shoulder. He turned around to see Casey Jones' fist coming right at him. Casey punched him out of the arena and into the audience.

He and Angel helped the turtles out of the mess, but the mob of Purple Dragons still wanted a piece of them.

"Get us out of here, Donny," Mikey said.

"I have just what the doctor ordered," he said. And he reached into his bag, pulled out a remote control and pressed a button.

"Oh, taxi!" called out Mikey.

The Battle Shell suddenly busted through the wall and stopped in front of the turtles.

"About time that thing busted somebody else's place for a change," said Raph as he and his brothers hopped in.

Meanwhile, Casey put a foot on Hun's chest and raised his bat. "This one's for my dad!" Angel suddenly grabbed the bat. "What are you doing?"

"Stopping you from making the biggest mistake of your life!"

Casey smiled warmly. "Thanks."

"Hey," said Angel as she and Casey hopped into the Battle Shell. "What are friends for?"

(!)

Before returning home, Casey wanted to stop by Angel's grandmother's place and drop her off. He knocked on the door, and said grandmother answered it. "Angel?"

"Grandma!" Angel hugged her.

"Told you I'd keep an eye on her," said Casey.

"Thank you, Casey. Thank you for bringing back my Angel. Now, I got a pie fresh out of the oven and I insist you come inside and join us." Casey gave his hiding friends a thumbs up before entering.

Mikey was drooling. "Pie? You, Case! How's about introducing grandma to your friends!"

"Forget it Mikey," Raph said as he dragged him back to the Battle Shell with his brothers. "We're ninjas. We stick to the shadows."

"The unsung heroes of the urban jungle," said Leo.

"The silent protectors of the way of bushido," said Donny.

"Trained to use the darkness to give us power," said Dante.

"So," said Mikey, clearly not hearing a word of what they said. "What pie do you think it was?" Raph slapped him. "OW! What?"


	10. Chapter 10

_My name is Dante. In our ninja training, Master Splinter is constantly telling us that when given two choices, always choose the harder path. But somehow, when you're a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle, the harder path always seems to choose you._

(!)

Down in the lair, the boys were doing a little weapons training. "You know what I love about weapons practice?" asked Raph. "The weapons." He proudly showed off his sai blades.

Dante snuck up behind him and used his tonfas to knock the sai blades out of his hands and kick Raph away. "Too bad you're stuck with those toothpicks and not a real weapon like a pair of tonfas!"

Mikey did a slide, used his nunchucks to trip Dante and took a bow. "Please, those things are just chopsticks compared to the nunchucks!"

Donny did a pole vault maneuver and smacked Mikey into a wall. "Sorry Mikey, but the bo staff is where it's at!"

"Boys," said Leo, unsheathing his swords. "put away the toys! Double katana is the only way to play!" In just a few quick slashes, Leo quickly disarmed this brothers. Then he said smugly. "What did I tell you? Double katana? Pretty sweet, huh?"

"Nice one, Leo," Donny said dryly.

"Lucky," Raph growled.

"Not so lucky as my tail," Mikey groaned.

Dante stood up and groaned. "I can join that club."

Splinter, overseeing the lesson, tapped his walking stick. "Well done, Leonardo."

Leo bowed. "Thank you sensei."

"You have won. But do you know why?"

"Well," said Leo, looking at his swords. "I have the superior weapons. I read where sword master Musashi said, 'The katana blade holds the soul of steel and is the truest guide to the warrior's way.' Which is kind of how I feel."

"It's just a sword to me," said Dante.

Leo made a hurt look. "Oh, and I suppose those tonfas are just pieces of wood you smack people around with?"

Dante looked down at his tonfas. "Well...yeah. I can always get new ones. They're pretty much expendable unless it's an heirloom. In that case, it's just for decoration."

That made Leo feel worse as he rounded up on him and said sternly, "I read somewhere that the weapon is an extension of yourself. So when you call a weapon something expendable, you call its owner expendable."

Dante backed away a little. "Leo...?"

Splinter said, "Many things are said, but few are true." Leo was confused. Why would he side with Dante?

"Master Splinter's got that look," teased Raph.

"I think somebody's gonna get it," teased Donny.

Mikey chuckled. "Michelangelo!" Then he gasped when he heard Splinter. "Do you think I am funny?"

Mikey tried to save face. "Um...yeah. I mean sometimes." Donny face palmed. "There was that time you told that joke about the ox and the sparrow. It wasn't really a joke, but it was really funny and..." Donny slapped him. "I mean, no, Master Splinter."

Splinter then turned his attention to Leo. "Leonardo, attack me with your katana."

"Master Splinter, I..."

"Do it! Now!"

Leo aimed his one of his swords at Splinter, only to have it grabbed by the rat's bare hands. "Is this the great and glorious weapon of which you speak? Helpless before an old rat such as myself? Again. With both!" Leo attacked with both swords, but each and every attack were blocked by the rat's walking stick. Then Splinter quickly disarmed him and pointed the stick at him. "In the hands of a true ninjutsu master, anything can be a deadly weapon."

"So I was right," Dante laughed with Raph, Donny and Mikey. "Your weapons are expendable!" Then he shut up when Splinter glared at him. "Shutting up now."

"Remember," Splinter said to Leo. "A weapon is only as good as the arm that wields it, Leonardo." To prove his point, he tossed the walking stick into a practice dummy, impaling it. "Until you have learned this lesson, you have learned _nothing_."

Leo looked more hurt than ever. He picked up his swords and slowly walked out of the building. Dante wanted to follow him, but was blocked by Splinter. "Leave him be."

"Master, I hurt him when I called his swords expendable. And you heard what he said about the weapon being an extension of the owner. He thinks I called him expendable."

"True, but you also revealed a weakness. Leonardo believes he is nothing without his katana. This lesson was to teach that it's not the weapon that makes the warrior, but the warrior."

Dante had an idea light bulb appear in his head. "That gives me an idea. Why not have a lesson that involves swapping our weapons?"

Splinter nodded. "I like that idea."

"Wait," said Mikey. "Are you saying I have to carry Raph's toothpicks?"

"At least mine don't twirl around like a helicopter," Raph growled.

"It seems Leonardo is not the only one who thinks he's nothing without his weapons," Splinter said. "I want you four to bring down Leonardo and we'll begin the lesson."

(!)

Up on the rooftops, the boys looked around. "Isn't this wear Leo comes to blowoff steam?" asked Dante.

"Well he was here," Donny said, pointing at slashed pieces of paper. "Must have had a fit similar to yours, Raph."

"Raph acting like Leo?" Mikey said. "One hot head is bad enough."

Raph laughed sarcastically. Then he found something on the ground. "A note?" The brothers gathered around.

"What's it say?" asked Mikey.

"I was about to read it until you interrupted me," Raph said. "'Warrior, if you are reading this note, you have passed the first test. I call upon you as a point of honor to meet with me if you way follow the way of bushido. You will come and you will come alone. Sixteen South Boil.' That ain't too far from here."

"There he is," Dante exclaimed softly. Leo was down in the streets, heading to where the note said. "This isn't like him."

"I agree," said Donny. "Follow him."

(!)

Eventually, Leo went to a storage facility and entered the building. The other brothers went to the rooftop to watch what was going on through the rooftop skylight. "Man," said Mikey. "Leo's been acting funny all day. And I don't mean ha-ha funny. I mean funny funny."

"It's not like him go go off like this," said Donny.

"Yeah," said Raph. "He's acting like me."

"We don't need two Raphaels," Dante said.

"Yeah," said Mikey. "Now another me would be a different story."

"Shh!" Donny shushed him. "Look!"

Through the skylight, they could see Leo being surrounded by a whole group of ninjas. Ninjas bearing the symbol of the red dragon's foot on their chest.

"Thirteen to one," Donny said.

"That seems pretty unfair," said Mikey. "I mean, there's only thirteen of them."

"If Leo needs us, we're here," said Raph. "Let's see what this is all about."

"Oh, my god," Dante gasped. "Raph is turning into Leo!"

"Shh!"

The brothers watched as Leo made short work of the ninjas. Then they watched as a newcomer exited the shadows: an Asian man with short black hair and wearing a white robe with the dragon's foot on the back. They watched as Leo and the man talked to each other, but they couldn't hear what was going on.

"What's he saying?" asked Donny

"Something about onions," said Mikey. "Or maybe pepperoni and sausage. And a deep dish crust." Raph slapped him. "What? It's hard to hear! And I'm hungry."

"Shh!" said Dante. "I think they're finishing talking."

They watched as the man handed Leo a katana in a red and black scabbard. Then the man bowed and left. "Gee," said Mikey. "And I thought Master Splinter said never to take swords from strangers."

"He's leaving," Dante said. "Let's move ahead him and confront him."

"I was thinking the same thing," said Raph.

(!)

None of of them were aware that they were being watched by two men in black trench coats, the same ones that watched their battle for the sword at the pier. "He is leaving," one of them said. "We better report this back to the council." He pressed a button on his wrist and live footage of the three men appeared.

"Yes?" they asked in unison.

"One of the turtles, Leonardo has spoken with Saki. But we do not know the outcome."

"Find out what the turtles will do," the three men said. "If they are with Saki, we may be forced to destroy them." The footage ended.

(!)

On the rooftop near their home, Leo marveled at the sword Oroku Saki gave him. "This is beautiful."

Then his brothers dropped in front of him. "Oh, Leonardo," Mikey said, imitating Ricky from I Love Lucy. "You have some explaining to do."

"Nice letter opener," Raph said. "Is that the price to sell out these days?"

"It's not like you think," defended Leo. "I was invited!"

"To join up with them?!"

"No! Mean, yes! But it's different than we thought! They're not the enemy! At least, I don't think they are. Everything that Master Saki said..."

"WHAT DID YOU SAY?!" shouted Dante. " _MASTER_ SAKI?!" He grabbed Leo by the shell. "You already have a master! Our dad! Master Splinter!"

"Remember him, Leo?" asked Mikey. "Real hairy guy about this tall? I don't think we can just ditch him."

"I'm not talking about ditching anybody! I'm only talking about another group of ninjas in a fight against evil! Mikey, you're always going on about how we should do some good, serve a greater purpose. Well, here's a greater purpose."

"I dunno."

"What's this thing got," Raph said, reaching for the sword. "Some sort of mind control device in it? Cause you're losing it Leo."

"Hey, give that back!"

Dante snatched the sword away from Leo. "It's just a stupid sword, Leonardo!"

Then Leo got mad. He tackled Dante to the ground and the two started wrestling over it. And then Leo flipped him over the building. His eyes widened when he realized what he'd done. "Oh, no, Dante!" He looked over the side to see Dante using one of his tonfas to hang onto a flagpole. Then he hopped back onto the roof.

"And you think katanas are the best ninja weapons," Dante growled at him.

"I am so sorry. I am such an idiot," Leo said. "You could have been hurt."

"Yeah, that's right. You _are_ an idiot. But I don't hurt that easily. Physically anyway."

"So what are we gonna do, Leo?" asked Donny.

"What I should have done in the first place: Talk to Master Splinter."

(!)

Down in the lair, Leo did just that. He also presented Splinter with the sword Saki gave him. Splinter sighed in sadness. "My sons, I had always hoped this day would never come."

"You _do_ know who these ninjas are, do you," asked Dante.

"Yes. I know who these people are. I have always known." He showed them the image of the red dragon's foot. "This is the symbol of the Foot Clan ninja. Their leader is Oroku Saki. But he has another name. He is the Shredder." Splinter's face turned grim. "I have often told you of my beloved Master Yoshi, but now it is time I told you the whole truth.

"As you already know, my master was a ninja of great power. One of the greatest practitioners of ninjutsu in many centuries. I was his pet rat, and I learned ninjutsu by mimicking his moves. For many years, I was happy. We were a family.

"But that life ended when the Shredder sent his Foot Ninja to attack my master. My master battled honorably, but through their dishonorable ways, the Foot Ninja overpowered him. Then the Shredder himself entered. They accused my master of working for their enemies. They wanted information. They were relentless. But my master only said one thing, 'He who lives without honor, will end without honor.'

"Impatient, the Shredder ordered Hun to finish him off. I tried to save my master, but my efforts were in vain. Though I did leave my mark. Then the Shredder..." Splinter paused, and tears flowed down his face. "The Shredder had taken my Master Yoshi from me. From the world. Not long after that, I found you, my sons, and you all know the rest."

The brothers listened with heartache. "Oh, dad..." Dante said sadly.

Splinter wiped his tears. "I never told you all of this because I did not want your training to be tainted by the poison of hatred. I did not want you to feel the sorrow that is still in my heart. But now, you need to know who Saki, the Shredder really is. He serves _no_ great purpose. He fights _no_ great evil! He _**IS**_ great evil! Any endeavor he undertakes, he does it for his own selfish gain!"

Leo slapped himself. "Man, I am such an idiot!"

"I could have told you that," Mikey said, nudging him.

"You've been played, bro," said Donny. "He saw you coming a mile away."

"So what are we gonna do about it?" asked Raph.

"Shredder wants an answer, I think we give him one," said Leo. "Turtle style."

The boys bowed to Splinter and were dismissed.

(!)

The next night, the brothers waited on a rooftop, one where the Shredder was expecting Leo's answer. They didn't have to wait long. A group of Foot ninjas appeared. Leo held out the sword Shredder gave him and tossed it aside. "Tell your boss the answer is no, and he can have the sword back."

As if on cue, it started to rain. That was the signal needed for the Foot to attack the brothers. "Let's dance," Dante growled.

The brothers fought back. Despite the lack in numbers, the brothers were taught to fight even when the odds were against them.

"Check it out," Mikey called out. "Nunchucks are not only good for playing the drums..." He bashed the group of ninjas that surrounded him. "But they're also good for getting a leg up to a fellow turtle!" He used the nunchucks to give Donny a leaping jump.

Donny then used his bo staff like a baton and spun it, knocking the next group of ninjas' weapons before striking them in the head. "You said it Mikey, but a bo staff sure comes in handy when a teenage turtle finds himself in a circle full of angry, ugly enemy ninjas!"

"You guys are still going on about weapons?" joked Leo as he slashed another group of Foot ninjas. "Weren't you listening to Master Splinter? It's not the weapon that matters. It's the ninja who wields it."

"I couldn't," Dante said as he bashed some more ninjas with his tonfas. "Agree." And a few more. "More!" Until all the ninjas were on the ground groaning in pain.

"Well," said Donny. "All in a day's work."

Then the brother's high fived each other. "Turtles rule!"

Suddenly, the roof access door was kicked down and out stepped Hun.

"Not him again," said Donny.

"We beat him before, we'll beat him again," said Leo.

"Yeah," growled Raph.

Hun cracked his knuckles. "I've been looking forward to this rematch."

"Bring it," said Dante. "If you've got the guts."

Hun roared and charged the turtles and Dante. The turtles fought back. Donny got punched in the face by Hun. Raph did a few kicks but Hun grabbed him and tossed him away. Leo tried to slash him with his swords, only to be kicked into Dante. Finally, Mikey swung his nunchucks at him, but Hun grabbed him and tossed him into Donny. Raph snuck up behind Hun and smacked him the face, but Hun grabbed him and slammed him into the ground multiple times before Leo kicked him away from his brother.

Then Hun saw the sword Leo tossed away. He unsheathed it and ran for the turtle, crossing his blade with Leo's. The two clashed until he knocked Leo's swords out of his hands. Then he raised his own sword...only to be headbutted in the gut by Dante, making him fall into a skylight.

Dante groaned. "Oh, man what're that guy's bones made of?" He rubbed his temples as he helped Leo pick up his swords.

Mikey smiled. "I think we'll sleep well tonight."

"That was not easy," said Donny.

(!)

On another rooftop, the two men in black watched the whole fight. One of them contacted the council. "Your report?" they said.

"Council members," said the man. "It appears the turtles and the boy are against him."

"Good," they said. "But it remains to be seen if the enemy of our enemy is our friend. Monitor them further and keep us informed."

"And what of the boy's programming?"

"We gave you the suppressants, did we? Use them should he see you."

"We will."

(!)

Dante rubbed his head again. "Oh, man, wicked headache." Then he looked up. "Oh, shell, you've got to be kidding me!"

More Foot ninjas jumped onto the roof. And there was another figure with them. A man wearing silver samurai armor with spikes on the shoulders, a horned helmet with a faceplate, and armed with a clawed gauntlet. This was Oroku Saki. This was the Shredder. "Those who are not with me are against me! And I crush anyone who stands against me!"


	11. Chapter 11

_My name is Leonardo. Well, it took me awhile, but I managed to see Oroku Saki for who he really is, the Shredder. Of course, to get to this point, we have to fight a bunch of Foot Ninja, which wasn't easy. Then, we had to go up against Hun again, definitely not easy. But the real nightmare is about to begin; now, we have to face the Shredder, and something tells me, this is really not going to be easy._

(!)

The brothers snarled at the Shredder as he removed his helmet, revealing his face as Oroku Saki. "The time for games has ended! No more charades! You see me as I am and it will be the last thing you will ever see." He smiled wickedly as he put the helmet back on. "Prepare to face your destiny and your doom."

"Well," Donny said nervously. "He's your buddy, Leo."

"And he's certainly got a nice sense of personal style," Mikey joked nervously. "I mean, nice outfit."

"Something tells me he didn't get dressed up for nothing," Raph growled.

"Guys," said Leo. "We're in for the fight of our lives."

"Let's make it one to remember," Dante said.

The Shredder then commanded, "Foot Ninja, attack! Destroy them!"

The brothers attacked the ninjas, and it was relatively easy...until the Shredder played dirty and attacked the brothers in the middle of their fights. First, he attacked Mikey, then Leo. Then he attacked Donny and tossed him to the ground, making him vulnerable to an attacking ninja...only for Raph to block the attack. "Watch your back, Brainiac!"

"Isn't that what you're for, Raph?"

Raph then knocked the sword out of the ninja's hands. It flew across the roof before stabbing a generator, causing a tremendous explosion that sent everyone flying off the roof.

(!)

Dante groaned as he sat up. There was a cut running down his head and he was disorientated. "Gotta...find...brothers..." Then his eyes widened when he saw... "No..." The Shredder was walking out of the burning rubble completely unharmed!

"Foot Ninja!" he shouted. "Find the turtles and the boy! They cannot be far! Do not allow them to escape!" Then he and the Foot Clan heard the sounds of police sirens. "Foot Ninja, disappear! Report to me when you find them!"

Dante walked away from the burning building and ran off to hide, still holding a hand to his cut.

(!)

Eventually, Dante stopped in front of a house and knocked on a door. "Please," he said. "Let this house have some healing supplies." A door opened and a woman in pajamas stepped out. "Yes?" she said. "Oh, my goodness! What happened to you, child?"

"I was jumped. Please, I need a band aid, anything."

"Oh, those no good Purple Dragons," the woman said as she led him in. She had him stay in the kitchen. "Now you stay here, I'll go get some gauze and peroxide."

Dante nodded as soon as the woman left. As the seconds passed, he realized he wasn't alone. Peeking his head out from the doorway was a boy about his age with blond hair and wearing red pajamas. "Hey," Dante said. The boy instantly hid away. "It's okay, I won't bite."

"Truly?"

"Nope."

The boy then revealed himself. "Why are you here?"

"I got jumped by the Purple Dragons."

"Really? Are you that vigilante in the hockey mask everyone talks about? Cool!"

"Uh, no. Do I look like a buff man?"

"No."

"There's your answer."

In that instant, the woman, obviously the boy's mother, came back with some medicine and some bandages. "Now you sit still and I'll dress this wound."

As the woman cleaned and dressed the wound, Dante watched the boy who was eyeing the whole thing. This was the first time he had been close to a human his age. "Your kid is nice," he said.

"Zach? Oh, yeah. He's always trying to be tough like his older brother."

"I can relate to that. My brothers are always tougher than me. I always have trouble catching up to them. Heck, one of them always teases me about it."

The woman hummed as she applied the bandages around his head. "Well, you're going to catch up eventually. I always tell my boy, 'He's going to slip eventually, then he'll one day look up to you.' That will happen with you and your brothers as well."

"I hope so."

Then Dante's eyes widened when he saw a group of Foot Ninja walk by the alley. Thank goodness they didn't see him. "Uh, listen, thanks for patching me up, but I'm sure my brothers and dad are worried of where I am." And he got up to leave.

"Wait!" called out Zach. "Will we see meet each other again?"

Dante smiled. "Probably. Just watch the rooftops."

"Just watch the rooftops?" asked Zach's mother. "What do you mean by..." But he was gone. The only sign of his presence was the now open window.

A voice upstairs called out, "Mom? Zach? What are you doing downstairs?"

"Nothing, Walt," the woman said. "Just go back upstairs. Your brother will be with you shortly!"

"Okay."

Zach looked out the window. "I didn't even get to know your name."

(!)

Eventually, he found Leo, cornered by a group of Foot Ninjas. "Oh, great." He was about to charge when someone jumped down and helped Leo: a man in a dark coat with blue hair tied into a pony tail. He wore a gold amulet designed like an octopus. In his hands, he carried a glowing blue katana. The moment he saw the amulet, Dante's mind suddenly went blank.

(!)

The man in the trench coat made VERY short work of the Foot Ninjas. Then he approached Leo. "Okay this is new," the turtle said. "You're definitely a ninja, but you're not one of _them_."

"I am simply a guardian," the man said. "Beyond that I cannot tell you anything more."

"That's pretty helpful," Leo said sarcastically.

"I am sorry, but I cannot reveal everything to you now. Just know you are caught up in a battle that is bigger than you can imagine.

"I pretty much heard that already from Oroku Saki."

The man nodded. "Yes, it was the only truth that the Shredder told you. But know this: by rejecting the Shredder and his evil, you have made an ally this day." He reached his hand forward. Leo smiled and shook his hand.

Suddenly, a can clattering made them turn around. Dante stood at the alley's entrance. "Oh, it's you," Leo said with a sigh. "Have you found the others?" Dante didn't respond. Instead, he grabbed a sword from one of the fallen Foot soldiers and pointed it at the man in the trench coat. "Whoa! Dante, he's not one of the Foot! He saved my life!" Dante ignored him and charged straight at the man.

Leo blocked him with his own swords. "Dante! What the shell has gotten into-" A kick to the groin then to the face shut him up. Then Dante continued to attack the man, who blocked every single one of his attacks.

"As I suspected. You are one of them."

The man then grabbed Dante by the arm and brought him into a head butt, knocking him unconscious. Leo ran up to the boy. "What the shell was that all about?"

"This is one of those things I cannot reveal. Not yet anyway." He handed Leo a bottle. "Give him these suppressants. This will control his behavior the next time he acts like this. Don't tell him what has happened."

"Acts like this? What is wrong with him?"

Suddenly, a car's headlights shined on them. Headlights belonging to the Battle Shell. Donny poked his head out the window. "Hey, Leo! Need a ride?"

Leo smiled. "Sure! Guys, I'd like to introduce you to..." But to his shock, his "guardian" was gone. "...the mystery ninja."

(!)

Dante groaned as he slowly woke up in an unfamiliar room. It took several seconds for him to realize he was in the Battle Shell with his brothers. "What happened?" He tried to stand up, but was very dizzy.

"Dante!" Leo helped him up. "You're okay?"

"Yeah...what happened to me?"

"You got knocked out by some Foot Ninjas."

"Really? I don't remember that. I remember leaving this nice lady's house and finding you in an alley with some weird man. After that, nothing."

"And I thought I had bad memory problems," said Mikey.

It was then Dante noticed the pantyhose wrapped around Mikey's leg. "Why do you have women's underwear wrapped around your leg?"

"It was the only way to make a splint for my sprained ankle."

"It doesn't matter now," Splinter said. "What matters now is that you're safe."

Dante squinted. "Dad? What are you doing here?"

"This." And he slapped Dante and his four brothers. That instantly sobered Dante up. "OW!" he and Mikey said at the same time.

"Hey!" exclaimed Donny, rubbing his cheek.

"What was that for?!" shouted Raph.

"For being so foolish," scolded Splinter. "You should never have tried to face the Shredder alone! He is far too powerful."

"You're telling me," said Donny. "I've got bruises that have got bruises."

"And did you see the way that Shredder just walked through that fire?" asked Leo.

"Yeah," said Mikey, doing an Arnold Schwarzenegger voice. "He's like the Shredinator or something."

"It didn't even touch him," Dante said, a shiver running down his spine.

"You have stirred the hornet's nest," said Splinter. "He will not rest until he finds us."

"Then what do we do, Master?" asked Dante.

"Let him find us," the old rat said after a pause.

"What?"

"I have long wished to avenge my Master Yoshi. Now is the time."

"But how do we let them find us?" asked Donny.

"Sit still."

"I don't know, Master Splinter," said Mikey. "Sitting still isn't one of our strong points." The rat glared at him. "Right. Sitting still it is! I like sitting still. Sitting still's good!"

(!)

The rat and the boys waited on a rooftop with a water tower not too far from the Battle Shell. They didn't have to wait long. A group of Foot Ninjas jumped onto the roof...followed by the monster himself, the Shredder.

"Dude..." shuddered Mikey.

"Let the butt kicking begin," said Raph.

"Foot Ninja, ATTACK!" commanded the Shredder.

The boys and the Foot charged with each other and locked their weapons.

"Remember my sons," said Splinter. "Even the mighty oak bends before the raging storm winds."

"Huh?" asked Mikey, confused...and distracted from blocking a Foot Ninja's fist.

Splinter groaned in annoyance. "Be careful and don't be overconfident!"

Raph, Leo, Donny and Dante made short work of one group of Foot Ninjas. Mikey on the other hand, ran into some trouble. He kicked a ninja with his bad foot, making him yelp. At first he thought it couldn't get any worse, but fate proved himself wrong when he kicked four more ninjas with his bad foot. He hopped around on one foot, clutching his bad ankle. This proved to be a great distraction for the Shredder to use: he kicked Mikey in the face, sending him flying into a water tower. To make matters worse, he landed on his bad leg. Mikey let out a scream of pain, scaring away some birds.

Meanwhile, Donny struck one Foot Ninja in the gut with his bo staff, then pushed back another. Unfortunately, he failed to see the Shredder behind him. Luckily, Raph saved his tail and kicked the Shredder away.

Shredder immediately got back up and shouted, "GET THEM!"

One ninja threw shuriken at Leo, who blocked them with his swords.

Donny crossed his bo staff with a Foot Ninja's.

"Hold your staff high," Splinter coached. "Sweep with the left foot from that position."

Donny ignored him as he bashed three more ninjas. "Jeez, now you're backseat ninja-ing me, Master Splinter!" Then he became instantly afraid when the Shredder jumped in front of him and punched him in the gut, sending him flying at a wall.

Meanwhile, Leo clashed swords with a ninja and pushed him away. Suddenly, the Shredder appeared behind him and was about to slash him when Raph blocked the clawed gauntlet. The Shredder picked him up and threw him at the wall next to Donny.

Mikey found himself cornered by a group of Ninjas, but he manage to bring them all down with his nunchucks. Unfortunately, the Shredder appeared behind him and smacked him at the wall next to his brothers.

Leo defeated two more Ninjas only to be bashed into the wall by the Shredder.

The Shredder heard foot steps and turned around...only to be stabbed in the gut by Dante. "Gotcha," he smirked.

For a brief moment, the Shredder was in pain. Dante smiled in victory. But then the smile instantly vanished when the Shredder not only pulled the sword out of his bleeding gut, but also use it as a lever to lift Dante off the ground. "What are you?!" demanded Dante.

"The Grim Reaper."

And he grabbed Dante by the throat brought him down upon his knee and tossed him into his brothers. The Shredder loomed over them and raised his clawed gauntlet. "None of you will leave here alive!"

"SHREDDER! NOOOOO!" Splinter blocked the gauntlet with his walking stick in the last minute. "You destroyed my family once, I will not allow it to happen again!"

"RAH! No man or _freak_ can defeat me!"

"That remains to be seen!"

The Shredder pushed Splinter to the water tower. The rat showed no fear. In fact, he dared the Shredder to come at him. The evil man complied, charging at the rat and slashing at him, but all his attacks were blocked by the walking stick. Then the Shredder slashed one of the tower's legs, weakening it. Splinter got an idea. He lured the Shredder to the other support structures, and made him slash them as well.

The water tower started to sway...

Splinter's eyes narrowed. "This is for my Master Yoshi!" And he kicked one of the legs. The Shredder gasped and made a run for it, but it was too late. Water sprayed out, sending him and the Foot Ninja flying off the building. The Shredder stood up...then his eyes widened when he saw the water tower falling right at him. It landed on him with a crash.

Splinter looked down at the scene while the brothers looked on in awe.

"Master Splinter," gasped Leo.

"You okay?" asked Mikey.

Splinter sighed. "Come. We have avenged my Master Yoshi. Let us go home."

"I'm all over that," said Donny.

"Yeah," said Raph.

"I gotta tell you," said Leo. "Home never sounded so good."

"And after all that," Dante said. "I could use a nap. A very, very long nap."

(!)

Unbeknownst to the brothers and Splinter, the Shredder's clawed gauntlet popped out of the mess of steel and wood.


	12. Chapter 12

_Nope, you haven't tuned into the wrong show. That's me, Mikey, under the cape and cowl. The kid beside me, that's my sidekick Shell Shock. OW!_

 _I told you not to call me sidekick!_

 _Sorry. The flying dude up in the sky, his name's Silver Sentry. We're in the middle of our first superhero type team up - he just doesn't know it yet. You'd think an earthbound turtle like me would have a rough time keeping up with a guy who can soar through the sky like an eagle, and you know what? You'd be right._

(!)

Days past since the boys and Splinter defeated the Shredder, and now that the threat was over, the boys were more free to roam the streets, but only as training exercises. Such as right now. The boys snuck out of a manhole cover and ran behind a parked van. "Remember," said Leo. "The purpose of this training exercise is to master the way of invisibility."

The boys free-ran across a sidewalk, hopping over cars and benches.

"Haven't you noticed how much safer the streets are since we put the smack down on that Shredder dude?" asked Mikey. "Looks like we really accomplished something for the greater good."

Leo, Raph and Donny took one look at each other and burst out laughing.

"Greater good?" asked Leo. "Puh-lease!"

"Yeah," said Donny. "Are you running for office now?"

"Get over yourself already," said Raph.

"It wasn't for the greater good," said Dante. "We did it for ourselves. That was revenge."

"Dude," said Mikey. "That's pretty dark. But you gotta agree with me, Dante, we can do more to help people."

"Well..."

Suddenly, they heard sirens in the distance. They ran for cover and watched as a police car drove by. Then Dante sniffed the air. "Do you guys smell smoke?"

(!)

From a rooftop, the boys watched as firemen tried to put out a fire that had started on the top of an apartment building. Worse still, there was one little girl still inside the building. "Hey, look!" shouted Mikey. "We gotta help that kid!" He wanted to help, but Leo held him back.

"Hang on. The fire department has got it covered. Besides, we'll get spotted."

"But we could..."

"Don't worry, Mikey," said Donny, who was looking up at the sky. "It's covered."

"But what if they can't get her in time?"

"Then he will," Raph said, pointing upward.

Dante followed Raph's finger and his eyes widened when he saw a young, muscular black man wearing a silver suit and mask and blue cape...flying in the sky?! "Who...is...that?" Dante asked, awestruck.

"It's really him!" gasped Mikey. "The Silver Sentry!"

The boys watched as the Silver Sentry grabbed the girl and brought her down to safety just in time. Then the fire soon spread, but Silver Sentry took one deep breath and blew out the fire with the force of hurricane winds. The people down below cheered as he saluted then flew away.

Dante only blinked. "I thought dudes in tights with superpowers only existed in comics."

"See?" said Mikey. "Now _that's_ what I'm talking about!"

"About the tights?"

"What? No! There's a guy who doesn't have to stick to the shadows and look what he's able to do!" He paused for thought. "Hey, that's it! We should become superheroes!"

The other turtles raised an eyebrow. "Ex-squeeze me?" said Donny, baffled by what his brother said.

"Yeah, yeah," said Mikey, still going on about his idea. "Go out on nightly patrols, help the helpless, rescue the...uh...rescue-less!"

"I think you've got your mask on too tight, Mikey," said Donny. "The oxygen's not making it to your brain."

"Don't you get it," Mikey said as he and his brothers started their return trip to the sewers. "We'd have secret identities to protect ourselves, we can work out in the open!"

"You've been reading way too many comic books, Mikey," Leo said. Mikey just looked down sadly.

(!)

Back in the lair, the brothers were practicing with Splinter. "Two greatest weapons at the ninja's disposal are placement and surprise," the old rat said. "Tonight we perfect the move that utilizes both. Leonardo, Invisible Flying Dragon!" Leo did a flying front flip Splinter's head. "Raphael!" Raph did the same. "Donatello!" So did Donny. "Michelangelo!" Nothing happened. In fact, Mikey wasn't even paying attention to the lesson. Instead, he was scribbling in a scrap book. "Michelangelo!" Splinter shouted, whacking his shoulder with the walking stick.

"OW!"

"What are you doing?"

"Uh...nothing," Mikey said, hiding the scrap book.

"Oh, yeah?" teased Raph, snatching it. "Let me see that."

"Hey! Give it back!"

"Ha, ha! Keep away!" Raph shouted, tossing the book to Donny, who tossed it to Leo, all the while Mikey tried to catch it, only to fail. Then Dante grabbed it and opened it. Then he burst out laughing. "The shell is this?"

"No!" shouted Mikey. "Don't!"

Too late, he showed everyone Mikey's drawing. It depicted the turtles, Splinter and Dante dressed up as superheroes. "What are we supposed to be, the Sceptic Avengers?" Dante teased.

"More like the Nin-Justice League," joked Raph.

"Or perhaps the Shell-tastic Four," giggled Donny.

"The Legion of Sewer Heroes," laughed Leo.

"Well, hardy-har," Mikey said sarcastically. "Even our level-headed leader gets a funny in," he said as he snatched the book away from Dante.

"Mikey, are you really serious about wanting to be a superhero?" asked Dante.

"Why not? Superheroes never have to hold back because someone's gonna see them! And wouldn't it be nice to get a little credit for the good we do?"

"That's what this is all about?" Dante asked. "Credit?"

"No! I'm talking about helping people! I'm talking about hearing people cheer our names whenever we save cats from trees or stop bad guys instead of pointing at us and scream just because we look different."

"Your intentions are noble Michelangelo," said Splinter. "But you must never forget who you are. You are ninja. You operate in the shadows."

"But can't we accomplish so much more out in the open?"

"There are many paths, my son. You must choose the one that is true to yourself. Now let us return to our training."

But Mikey took one look at the drawing and said as he left the lair, "Sorry, Sensei. I gotta go out and clear my head."

(!)

Mikey sighed sadly as he sat in the garage, looking at the drawing. "I _can_ be a superhero. I know I can."

"Why don't you?"

Mikey turned around and saw Dante. "Why are you here? Come to laugh more at a guy for having dreams? Besides, aren't you supposed to be training?"

"I've finished my training and...well, I thought about what you said. You might be right."

"Say what?"

"I can understand why you would want to be someone who fights out in the open, but think about how I feel. I've become afraid of my own kind. I'm not a turtle or a rat. I'm a human. And I do think it would be nice to do some saving without being afraid of what people think of your appearance."

MIkey perked up. "Are you saying...?"

"Yep. I would like to help you be a superhero." Mikey cheered and did a little dance. "On one condition, Mikey."

"What's that?" Dante grabbed him by the shell. "GAH!"

"DON'T. EVER. Put me in the same category as sidekick."

"Why?"

"Because who cares about sidekicks? They're just tagalong kids who eventually windup getting kidnapped and the superheroes have to rescue them. They're as bad as damsels in distress!"

"Hey, Robin was a sidekick, and look how he turned out!"

Dante paused. "Good point. But still, don't call me sidekick. Call me your partner."

"Fine." Mikey sat down. "Now then, so how do we get to be a superhero?" He thought for a while then said, "Step one, secret origin story. Already covered. Step two, mode of transport." He looked behind him at the Battle Shell and the Shellcycle.

"I don't think Donny and Raph will appreciate you taking their vehicles."

"Yeah, besides, they're too limited." Then he looked around and got an idea...along with strong rope and two hooks. "Huh, what do you think, Dante? Grappling hook's the only way to go!"

"Well...they're not the Battle Shell, but they'll do."

(!)

Dante and Mikey stood on a roof as they looked around. "Step 3," said Mikey. "Go out on patrol."

Then they heard a woman call for help and saw her purse being snatched by a mugger. "Show time," Dante said.

Mikey swung his grappling hook on a TV antenna and flew down at the thief. From where he was standing, Dante watched as Mikey grabbed the thief, tossed him into a trash can...and then promptly fell flat on his shell as the antenna broke off. "Well, so much for style, still Mikey got it right." But when Mikey handed the purse back to the woman, she slapped him with it and ran away.

Dante free-ran down to the street level and walked up to a disappointed Mikey. "Step four," the turtle said sadly. "Work on an appearance that doesn't instantly freak out the people you're trying to protect."

"How do you think Batman feels?" asked Dante.

"But I don't want to be like Batman. He sticks to the shadows like a ninja. I want to be more like Spider-Man, more out in the open." Then he looked at a costume store across the way and smiled. "I need...a superhero costume!"

(!)

The 2nd Time Around was the only store who would allow mutant turtles to walk in and have no one scream. Mainly because the turtles' friend April was there. Mikey and Dante explained the situation to April. "So then I decided," the former said. "If you want to act like a superhero, you gotta look like a superhero." He showed April the drawing he made in the lair. "Pretty lame huh?" he said, expecting her to laugh.

"No, not at all," she said. "I think Dante is right. You should follow your dream."

Mikey smiled. "You do?"

"We just gotta find the right look for you."

(!)

Mikey went through several costumes. A suit of knight armor, a magician's cape and top hat and a ski mask and hooded sweater before finally picking the right costume. "Introducing...Turtle Titan!" He came out from behind a curtain, revealing his new costume: a red cape and cowl, an emblem with two T's on it, brown boots and a belt carrying his grappling hook; in his right hand was a turtle shell shield. April looked over and nodded. "Mmm, not bad."

"All right! Hey, Dante, what's the holdup on your costume?"

"I feel silly!" Dante's voice called out from behind the curtain.

"Come on out!"

"Okay..." He stepped out from behind the curtain. "Well? Are you going to laugh?" He was wearing a green and black body suit with a turtle shell on the chest, black gloves, black boots and a green bandana mask. On his belt was his own grappling hook, and his pair of tonfas. April smiled. "You look very cool. Now we gotta think of a name."

"Call me Shell Shock."

"Great," said Mikey. "Now, let's give these suits a test run."

(!)

Mikey and Dante looked down at the street from the building they were standing over, looking for anyone that was in distress. They soon got what they wanted; in the middle of the street was a man standing still. Drivers honked their horns angrily and shouted at him, but he wouldn't move. And on the roof of the building right in front of theirs, a woman stepped her foot over the railing and fell. Dante raced for the woman while Mikey ran for the man in the street. "Citizens in peril!" shouted Mikey. "This looks like a job for Turtle Titan and Shell Shock!"

(!)

Dante swung his grappling hook on a flagpole, swung across the street and grabbed the woman before crashing through an apartment window. "No thanks are necessary," Dante shouted in an overdramatic voice. "Shell Shock is..." Then he realized the woman wasn't moving and her face was blank of emotion. "Uh, ma'm?" He shook her, and something red fell off her neck and scuttled off. "Ew, a tick." He squished it.

Suddenly, the woman let out a groan. "Where am I?" Then she saw Dante and let out a scream.

"Wait! Don't run! I just saved you!"

"Saved me?!"

"Yeah, you just jumped off a roof!"

The woman blinked. "I did?" She blinked and rubbed the back of her head. "I don't remember doing that. I just felt a pinch on the back of my neck and..." She groaned again. Dante held her up.

"It's all right. Just go home and get some rest. I'll see you later." He was about to swing out the window when the woman said, "Wait! I didn't get your name!"

"It's Shell Shock." He said with a smile and he swung off.

(!)

"I wonder how Mikey's doing?" Dante thought as he ran across the rooftops. He stopped when he looked down and saw a small boy and small girl carrying crowbars walked to a convenience store and smashed the windows open. "Trouble," Dante said.

The two children started to make off with the cash register when Dante jumped down in front of them. "Now, children," Dante said in a stern fatherly way. "It's very wrong to - AUGH!" He ducked just in time to avoid the cash register being thrown at his head. "Hey!" he shouted. "Are you trying to get me killed?!" The children slowly stalked him with the crowbars. "Okay, I take that as a yes!"

The kids swung the crowbars at him, but fortunately, their weapons were heavy, so it gave Dante plenty of time to knock them out of their hands with his tonfas. "All right, you little brats," he shouted, pinning them to the floor. "Why the hell are you doing this?!" Then he saw two red bugs pop off their necks. "Hey, you look like the tick that came off that woman." He crushed them and just like before, the kids groaned and woke up.

"Where am I?" the boy asked.

"Why are we here?" the girl asked.

"Why don't you tell me?" Dante demanded. "You're the ones who broke in here."

"What?! Oh, no!" the boy said, panicking. "I'm going to be in so much trouble!"

"Mom's going to ground me!" the girl cried.

"Shh, shh," Dante said. "It's okay. I'll take you home and we'll pretend this didn't happen, okay?" The two kids nodded. "Good." But before he took them home, he looked down at the remains of the bugs he crushed. "That's the second time some crime has happened involving those bugs."

(!)

Mikey and Dante finally met each other on a rooftop in Times Square. "So, how's the superhero game treating you?" asked Dante.

"Badly. No one appreciates me," Mikey said sadly. "Bunch of ungrateful..."

"Well," Dante said, not wanting to hear it. "I had a strange day. I keep finding these weird red bugs on the people I save and..."

"Hey," interrupted Mikey. "I found those bugs, too! They made a guy rob his own store!"

Dante tapped his chin. "So there _is_ a connection. The only question is, who would make people rob their own stores or jump off buildings?"

Suddenly, there was a loud crash. The boys looked down to see a bus driving erratically toward the bank. "Man," said Mikey. "What is up with people tonight?"

They swung down to the bus and used the bus's skylight to climb in. Mikey ran up to the driver and took the wheel. "Sorry, pal. No one's going to break the bank tonight." He swerved the bus away from the bank...and toward the docks. He slammed on the breaks, but nothing happened and the truck kept going. "Don't tell me you cut the breaks!" The driver shoved Mikey aside.

Dante grabbed the driver. "You've totally lost your mind!" Then he saw it: a little red bug. "And it looks like I found it", he said, putting it in his pocket.

At that instant, the driver awoke. "What's going on?"

"Offhand," Dante said. "You were being mind controlled. But we're safe now."

That's when Mikey, Dante and the driver realized they were still heading for the water. "No, we're not!" the driver shouted. He jumped out the door and Dante followed. But when Mikey tried to jump out, his cape got snagged. "Mikey!" shouted Dante. He ran after the bus, but it was too late. It flew off the dock.

And flew back on to dry land?!

"What the?"

It was then Dante realized the bus wasn't flying. Someone was carrying it. Someone he and Mikey saw before. A black man in a silver suit and mask and blue cape. "Are you two all right?" he asked.

Dante was dumbfounded while Mikey was at a loss for words. "I...you...I mean, you're him! Central Survey! Silver Sunday!"

"Silver Sentry!" Dante said, excited. "Hey, I got a question. Do those tights feel uncomfortable around the pelvis?"

"Uh, no," Silver Sentry said. "And who are you two supposed to be?"

"Michel...Uh, I mean, Turtle Titan. And this is my sidekick, Shell Shock." Then his eyes widened. "Uh, oh."

Dante gave him a glare. "What did you call me?!"

"Uh...sorry! I didn't mean..." Dante tackled Mikey and banged his head against the bus.

"I! AM! NO! SIDEKICK!"

"Sorry! I'm sorry! I meant partner!"

Dante let him go. "Thank you."

Silver Sentry chuckled. "The first night on the job, eh?"

"Is it that obvious?" Mikey said.

"Listen, uh...Turtle Titan and Shell Shock, is it?" Mikey made a stupid grin and nodded. "I admire your good intentions," the superhero said. "But this is a dangerous occupation. If you're not careful someone's going to get hurt. Most likely you." Mikey's smile vanished. "You might want to call it a night."

He was about to leave when Dante shouted, "Wait! You might want to look at this!" He fished the robotic bug he removed from the bus driver out of his pocket. Silver Sentry flew back down. "Someone's been controlling people with these things," Dante explained as he handed the bug to him. "Turtle Titan and I have found these things making people run into traffic, rob stores and jump off buildings!"

Silver Sentry looked at the bug carefully. "Looks like the work of my arch-nemesis Doctor Malignus. You may have disabled it, but it's still receiving a control signal." He flew up into the air and looked around carefully. "It's originating from that warehouse across the river." Then he flew down and picked up Mikey and Dante. "Let's go!"

As he flew up with the two "new heroes", Silver Sentry noticed Mikey making weird noises. "Are you all right?"

"Sorry. This is a first for me."

"First time flying?"

"Yes," said Dante.

"And," said Mikey. "First superhero team up." At that moment, Silver Sentry flew down and set the two on the ground.

"Hey, what's up?" asked Dante.

"I thought we were going after the bad guy?" asked Mikey.

"Let's get one thing straight, Turtle Titan," Silver Sentry said sternly. "There is no superhero team up tonight."

"But I," Mikey said, but Silver Sentry interrupted him, "You've got a lot of heart, kid, and I appreciate the help, but you two are in way over your heads. You need to keep yourselves safe and out of sight while I Malignus." And he took off flying.

"You don't understand," Mikey called out. "I took this gig so I _wouldn't_ have to hide in the shadows!" But Silver Sentry was too far away for him to hear.

"So even the guys in tights are telling you you don't have what it takes to be a superhero," Dante said. "If that doesn't say something, I don't know what is."

But Mikey was too stubborn. "Oh, what does he know?"

Dante sighed in exasperation as he chased after Mikey who watched the Silver Sentry fly into the warehouse. "What I wouldn't give for a Turtle Plane right about now," Mikey said. "Guess we'll have to get across the old fashioned way."

(!)

What was the old fashioned way? Run across the bridge to the other side. "Yep," Mikey said. "Definitely need me a Turtle Mobile."

"Think of this as good old fashioned exercise," Dante panted.

(!)

They reached the warehouse and tossed their grappling hooks up on the roof. They climbed up, but Mikey was having difficulty do to his shield banging the side of his head every time he raised his arm up to climb. "Note to self," Dante said. "Put the shield on the back."

Finally, the reached the roof and climbed down the hole Silver Sentry made. "Hello?" called out Mikey. "Any nefarious, twisted evildoers in the house?"

The lights came on, revealing a laboratory and in the center was a man wearing a red and purple armored body suit and helmet. "Just the one," he said in a raspy voice.

"Doctor Malignus, I presume?" asked Dante.

"I'm sorry, I haven't had the pleasure Misters..."

"The names are Turtle Titan and Shell Shock," Mikey said. "What have you done with Silver Sentry?"

"Why he's right here."

The boys looked to the left. Sure enough, there was Silver Sentry. "Oh, there you are," Mikey said. "You had me worried for a sec."

But instead of greeting them, Silver Sentry punched Mikey and Dante, sending them flying across the room.

"Did I mention he's completely under my control?" Doctor Malignus asked.

"No!" exclaimed Dante and Mikey.

"Yes! Silver Sentry is my slave to do all my villainous bidding and your hero is now powerless to stop himself from becoming the very thing he despises the most: a super villain! And your first villainous task, my supper puppet," the mad doctor ordered Silver Sentry. "Destroy Turtle Titan and Shell Shock!"

Silver Sentry lifted Dante and Mikey off the ground. "Fight it, Silver Sentry," shouted Mikey. "You don't really want to hurt us!"

"That's the beauty of my plan," Doctor Malignus laughed. "He _doesn't_ want to hurt you, but he can't stop himself!"

"Then it's up to us to stop him," Dante said, kicking the superhero in the crotch. Nothing happened. "Oh. Right. Superhero. What was I thinking."

Silver Sentry tossed both him and Mikey onto a railing. Mikey threw his shield at Silver Sentry, but he just grabbed it and crushed it. "Right. What was _I_ thinking?"

The boys tried to escape, only for Silver Sentry to pick them up and throw them out the window. They hid behind a dumpster just in time for the brainwashed superhero to burst out the wall and begin looking for them.

"You know," Mikey said as he tore off his costume. "Maybe Master Splinter was right. Again. Maybe it's time to get back to basics. Ninja turtle style."

"Good thing."

(!)

"Yoo-hoo! Over here, big guy!" Dante called out. The Silver Sentry then started throwing garbage at him, but Dante dodged ever throw. What the brainwashed superhero didn't know was that he was merely a distraction. Mikey snuck up behind him and swatted the robotic bug controlling him off his neck before stepping on it. Then he took a bow. "Thank you, Invisible Flying Dragon!"

Silver Sentry took the bug from Mikey and crushed it with a sigh of relief. "Thanks, Turtle Titan and Shell Shock. You two have earned your superhero team up."

"You know he's going to make an escape and fight another day, right?" Dante asked. "That's what villains do in comics all the time."

"Maybe," Mikey said. "But I got a plan."

(!)

Silver Sentry suddenly burst through the lab and shouted, "It's over Malignus! You've lost!"

"Only this round, Sentry!" And the doctor was lowered into an escape tunnel in the sewers. "The game will continue!" He laughed as he walked into the sewer. "Muscle bound fool! Doesn't he know I always have an escape plan?" Suddenly he stopped when he saw Mikey and Dante.

"We do," Dante said. "We read comic books all the time." He charged at the doctor and groin kicked him into a wall, knocking him out. "Who needs a shield and grappling hook anyway?"

"Not us," said Mikey.

(!)

The boys and Silver Sentry watched from the rooftop as the mad doctor was dragged into a paddy wagon by police. "Thanks for the help," Silver Sentry said. "You two are welcome to team up with me any time, Turtle Titan and Shell Shock."

"The name's Michelangelo and Dante," Mikey said. "And from now on, I'll leave the limelight to guys like you. I can do a lot more for this town in the shadows."

"That's good," Dante said. "Now, before we go home? I want to get out of this costume and back into my normal clothes. These tights are really starting to chafe."

(!)

When Dante and Mikey returned to the lair, they were already prepared for their brothers' taunts. "What do you know, it's Super Mikey," teased Raph.

"Returning to his secret Turtle Cave headquarters," teased Donny.

"How's life in the funny books?" asked Leo.

Mikey said nothing and turned on the TV to watch the news. The reporter said, "At a Brooklyn warehouse where the Silver Sentry has defeated and captured the criminal mastermind known as Doctor Malignus. Any comments on the incident, Silver Sentry?"

"I just want to say I couldn't have done it without the help of my new friends and allies, Turtle Titan and Shell Shock."

Mikey switched off the TV. His turtle brothers were wide eyed. "Mikey? Dante? Was that you the Silver Sentry was talking about?"

Mikey smiled. "I'm a turtle. Not a titan. So, who's ready to get back to training?"

"By the way," Raph said. "Shell Shock? What kind of name is that for a sidekick?"

Dante's ears turned red. Mikey gasped. "Uh, oh!"

"What?" Raph got his answer when Dante jumped on top of him and shouted, "I AM NO SIDEKICK! YOU HEAR ME!? I AM NOT!"


	13. Chapter 13

_Hi, the name's Michelangelo. What, you might ask yourself, would any sane turtle be doing in an abandoned subway tunnel deep under the city? A tunnel so decayed, it's going to collapse from just one little noise, and a huge weird thing howling at us at the top of its lungs. Funny, I'm asking myself the same question._

(!)

Dante and Mikey scooted close to each other as they watched a very scary monster movie on the TV. The woman in the movie screamed as she hid behind a scientist, away from the monster. "Doctor," she said. "I've never seen anything like it!"

"Me neither, Thelma," the scientist said. "I'm rapidly becoming convinced..."

"'There are some things man was never meant to tamper with'," Mikey said the line from the movie word for word.

Then the movie cut to a some car dealership commercial. Mikey turned it off. "Well, I'm pooped."

"Ditto. Let's get some shut eye," said Dante.

But before they could go to bed, they spotted Donny studying those blue crystals Mikey found when he was cleaning up the lair the first time they came here. "Hey, Donny," Mikey said. "Watcha doing?"

"I'm checking out these crystals we found when we moved in here. I'm trying to classify them, but I can't find anything like them in the books. What's weirder, the microscopic crystal structures are linked almost like...mutated brain cells." Mikey hummed scary music, much to Donny's confusion. "I beg your pardon?"

"Late night monster movie marathon," Dante explained.

Mikey brought a light under his face, making him look scary. "'Perhaps there are some things man was never meant to tamper with'," he quoted. "Nothing says a turtle can't tamper with though." He brought two of the crystals Donny was studying together. Suddenly, the crystals started to glow and vibrate.

The other members of the family heard the noise and came over to investigate. "Donatello? What is happening?" asked Splinter.

"What's with the noise?" asked Raph.

"I'm not sure," exclaimed Donny. He pulled the crystals away from each other, stopping the glow and the vibrations.

"Are we in danger, Donatello?" Splinter asked.

"Maybe the harmonics of the energy signature of the crystalline structure?"

Raph said bluntly, "You don't know, do you?"

"Not a clue."

Mikey raised his hand. "I started the whole thing!"

Suddenly, the alarm rang. "What's that?" asked Dante.

"Someone's tripped a perimeter alarm in the old subway tunnels!" exclaimed Donny.

They boys watched the surveillance footage. Then they jumped back when they saw something big run by the screen.

"What was that?!" exclaimed Dante.

"Sewer rats are getting bigger," Raph said.

"Yeah," said Mikey. "Time to cut the cheese!" Dante slapped him upside the head. "OW! That's not what I meant!"

"Let's roll," said Leo.

(!)

The boys took the Sewer Slider and rode it down the tunnels of the sewer just beneath the subway. "Let's not announce ourselves," Leo advised Donny. "Switch to stealth mode."

Donny slowed the Sewer Slider, silencing the engine. Eventually, they came to the tunnel where the thing was spotted on the camera. They spread out to look for clues. "Nothing," said Raph.

Donny pointed his flashlight up. "Don't be too sure." On the tunnel's ceiling were four-toed, clawed footprints. "This is odd." The tracks led to a hole in the wall.

"What have you got?" asked Leo.

"Some kind of weird tracks," Donny said. "Melted right into the stone!"

"Whatever it was, it tunneled right through the cement!" said Raph.

"Forget tunneled," Dante said. "Whatever did this look like it _ate_ through it!"

Donny chipped away the rocky layer surrounding the hole. "Looks like the molecules have become unbonded. Maybe some kind of catalyst or an acid?"

Mikey started to panic. "Okay, this is the part of the monster movie where the first attack happens. The first guy never makes it! Need I say more?!"

"Just calm down, Mikey, till we find out what this is," Leo said. "What is this?" he asked Donny.

"Another mystery," He said to leo. "One thing's for sure, I've never seen anything like it," he and Mikey said at once.

"That's it! I'm out of here!" Mikey ran back to the Sewer Slider.

"Hey, what do you get when you cross a turtle and a chicken?" joked Raph. "Mikey."

"I need to get back anyway," Donny said as he and his brothers followed Mikey. "To analyze this and find out just what we're dealing with here."

(!)

The brothers and Splinter watched as Donny performed some experiments on the sample of the melted rock. "Hmm," he said.

"Was that a good hmm or a bad hmm?" asked Mikey. "Cause this is the part in the movie where we should be looking for the monster's one weakness or we could kiss our shells good bye! Trust me, you don't want to underestimate a monster!" Raph splashed cold water in his face. "Thanks. I needed that."

"What can you tell us, Donatello?" asked Splinter.

"It looks like that creature melted right through the stone! Being able to liquify stone is the perfect ability for a subterranean life form."

"I am hearing answers that raise more questions," the old rat said. "A strategist gathers all his information before deciding on a course of action."

"You mean, we go monster hunting?" asked Dante, excited.

"Not monster hunting," Leo said. "Fact finding."

"If something's out there looking for us," Raph said. "I say we find it first."

"All in favor?"

"Aye!" everyone but Mikey said. Then they turned to Mikey who made a small, "Meep!"

"Close enough," said Leo.

"Good luck my sons," Splinter said. "May you return safely." Mikey stalled. "Yes, my brothers," he said. "Good luck to you."

Raph was having none of it. He dragged Mikey by the ear all the way to the Sewer Slider.

(!)

The boys made sure to pack the essentials: food, communication devices, comic books, grappling hooks, and those two crystals just in case.

(!)

When they returned to the hole the creature made, Mikey stalled again. "After you," he said to Dante and Raph.

"I'm not buying it, you coward," Dante said, grabbing Mikey by the shell and dragging him in. Mikey sobbed over-dramatically.

(!)

The boys found themselves in an old subway tunnel, one that had not been used for many years. "What is this place?" asked Raph.

"There's a whole network of abandoned subway tunnels from the early 1900s down here," Donny explained.

"Abandoned?" Mikey said sarcastically. "Riiight."

"Shh," Dante said. "Do you hear that?" There was a loud creaking above their heads.

"These old support beams should have given out long ago," Donny said. "I suggest we all be really, really quiet."

The boys continued down the tunnel, searching for any trace of the creature. So far, nothing. "Anything yet?" asked Dante.

"Nope, nothing," Mikey shouted. "Let's go home!"

Dante pushed him onward. Then he saw it. "Footprints. They lead in this direction."

Suddenly, the tunnel started to shake from the subways up above. "Don't make a sound," Donny warned.

Unfortunately, the dust started to make Mikey's nose itch. "Ah...ah..." Raph blocked his mouth.

"Mikey, not. A. Sound. Got it?"

"I got it," Mikey said, blocking his nose. The turtles moved forward... "ACHOO!" The whole tunnel started to shake. Raph turned and glared at Mikey. "Mikey, for crying out loud! Next time, bring an antihistamine!"

"Hey, how am I supposed to stop..." Mikey's eyes widened. "A huge, grotesque, and frankly quite horrifying monster?!"

The other turtles and Dante turned around immediately. There, lumbering toward them was a huge creature with brown, lumpy skin and red eyes. It roared at them, making the tunnel start to collapse. "RUN!" shouted Dante.

The brothers made a break for it, rushing past the monster and down another series of tunnels. When they were safe, their flashlights suddenly went out, leaving them in the dark.

"This just gets better and better," Raph said.

"Just a sec," Donny said. He clicked the two crystals together, making them glow and vibrate.

"You think that thing survived?" asked Raph.

"Know your monsters, Raph!" shouted Mikey. "It can _melt rock_!"

"Oh yeah. Maybe I forgot because I was trying not to get _buried IN A_ _COLLAPSING_ **_SUBWAY TUNNEL_**!"

"Everybody calm down!" shouted Leo. "Let's keep moving."

The only way to go now was forward. They followed the tracks until they went down on the side of a wall. They took out their rock climbing equipment, following the tracks down until they reached the ground. "Ugh," said Mikey. "Even my back ache's got a back ache."

"Let's make camp," said Leo. "You up for first watch?" he asked Raph.

Raph twirled his sai blades. "You know me."

The boys used the crystals as a makeshift campfire while they slept. Raph did his best to stay awake while he kept watch.

(!)

Meanwhile, Dante was tossing and turning, having a strange dream. He dreamed he was an infant, and was with other babies as well. Looming over him was a woman in a lab coat. He watched with intrigue as the woman talked with someone in the shadows, but couldn't make out what she was saying. Then, men in black outfits suddenly appeared and took the babies away. Some of them cried as they were pulled away from the other babies. Then when Dante was picked up, he started crying as well.

(!)

"No!" Dante shouted, waking up from his dream.

"Rise and shine everyone," Raph shouted, waking up the other turtles. "Our friend is back!"

"So, running would be good, right?" asked Mikey.

Then they saw the monster wasn't alone. Accompanying it was a red scorpion-like beast and a blue monster with insect-like hands and feet. The monsters pushed a huge boulder right at them. "RUN!" shouted Leo.

The brothers ran down another tunnel, doing their best when not to get squashed. "Don't you hate it when this happens?!" shouted Mikey.

Just then, they stopped. "Oh, great!" shouted Raph. "The bridge is out!"

"Now what do we do?" asked Mikey.

Raph tossed a noosed rope at a stalagmite, tying it straight. "Grab on!" he shouted. The brothers held onto the rope and swung across the gap with a "COWABUNGA!" from Mikey.

"Mikey, I told you," Raph shouted. "No more cowabunga."

Suddenly, the rope began to shake. "It's slipping," shouted Raph.

"Now what do we do?" asked Mikey.

"Crack the whip! On my signal! One, two, three!"

The brothers swung upward, safely landing onto the other side of the bridge. "I like a little excitement first thing in the morning," Mikey said.

"How are we going to get back with those things playing bowling for turtles?!" shouted Raph.

"Look at this!" exclaimed Donny. He was pointing to a doorway that led to a lab.

"What's this doing here?" asked Dante.

"Not to make things worse," said Donny. "But you'll notice the door was forced open. From the inside! Something was tying to get out."

"And it looks like they succeeded."

"Oh, that doesn't makes things worse," said Mikey. "It makes things HORRIFYING!"

The brothers walked into the lab, taking note of the damaged equipment and a crystal similar to the ones they were carrying. "Anybody got a clue what this place is?" asked Raph.

"Want to take a wild guess?" asked Mikey.

"No."

Donny inspected the equipment. "I'm seeing devices related to physiology, biology, genome analysis. My guess, this is a genetics lab."

"You mean, they were experimenting with mutation?" asked Dante. Mikey hummed horror music. Suddenly, he tripped a laser, setting off an alarm. Just then the crystal in the lab activated, creating a wall of lasers.

"Looks like some kind of force field," exclaimed Donny.

Raph stabbed at the wall, but to his shock, it just went right through it! But when he pressed his hand against it, it was like a solid wall of brick! "What now?!"

"Something's telling me, do not touch!" said Mikey.

"Oh, you think?!"

"Looks like this energy only affects living tissue!" Donny shouted.

"Too bad that's exactly what we're made out of!" shouted Raph.

The force field got closer and closer to them until it started to pin them against the lab's wall. "Donny," Dante shouted. "Any ideas before we're squashed?!"

"I'm thinking! I'm thinking!" Then his eyes focused on the center of the room. "The crystal! It's somehow powering all this! Raph! Your sai can go through the field! Aim for the crystal!" Raph complied, and tossed one of his sai at the crystal. The wall fizzed, then faded away just in time.

"Close one," Donny sighed.

"And that's the end of that," said Raph, retrieving his sai.

"It gets worse," Donny said, pointing to a computer that somehow activated by itself. "Look at this!" The screen showed static until the image became more clear. To the brothers' shock, the image was that of a red, three-toed dragon's foot.

"No way," exclaimed Dante. "The symbol of the Foot Clan!"

Raph growled, "Every time we hit trouble, that Foot symbol is stamped right on it! What is it this time?"

"Let's find out," said Donny, typing away at the computer. "These look like some kind of archived video logs."

The first video diary showed a man in a black lab suit and a pair of dark glasses. "Day one," he said. "Project commences. Master Shredder believes his enemies have taken refuge underground. Our Foot Soldiers haven't been unable to locate them, so the genetic division has been directed to mutate human subjects so that they can explore deeper into the earth." The footage showed Foot scientists taking random, frightened people from cages, then injecting them with strange chemicals. The people started to scream in agony as the chemicals took affect. "The subjects appear to be in some discomfort," the chief scientist said. "But this is a minor annoyance."

The turtles squirmed as they watched the people's screams of agony turn into roars as they mutated into hideous monsters. "That poor guy," Leo said.

"This is starting to get really weird," Mikey said.

"'Starting'?" said Raph.

The next video diary started. "Day 345," said the chief scientist. "The experiment appears to be a success, though the subjects are exhibiting reduced intelligence."

Then the next video diary started. The monsters were now thrashing in their cages, roaring and snarling. The chief scientist was scared. "Day 575. The creatures are showing signs of instability! Becoming angry and vicious! Certain aspects of the experiment have gone horribly wrong! Have we attempted too much in developing this unnatural life form? Perhaps..."

"There are some things man was never meant to tamper with!" Mikey and the chief scientist said at once. "That's the one line in a monster movie you don't want to hear!" Mikey said.

The next video diary showed the monsters being trained. "Through the generous use of shock restraints, the creatures have been trained to retrieve evidence from their explorations."

The next video diary showed the scientists celebrating with champagne. "Day 699," the chief scientist said. "The project is a success! Our creatures have found evidence of habitation underground which has been turned over to Master Shredder. I've been told he's quite pleased."

The next video diary showed the chief scientist looking disappointed. "Day 733. The settlement we found is _not_ what Master Shredder was searching for." He banged a table in frustration as he said, "He has pronounced the project a _failure_. We have been told to shut down the experiment and destroyed the creatures."

The next video diary showed pure carnage. The creatures were attacking, killing and in some cases, EATING the scientists! "The creatures have freed themselves!" screamed the chief scientist. "They are more intelligent than we have ever dreamed!" He was covered in blood and his lab coat was ruined. "They...they have been manipulating us all along, waiting for their moment to escape!" Suddenly, one of the monsters roared at him. "No! No! Keep away!"

The boys turned away, not wanting to see what came next.

Then the video ended.

The boys were horrified by what they had seen. Dante in particular was shuddering. "Those things...are people?"

Suddenly, they heard a loud roar. "So," said Mikey. "There's always that one guy in the monster movie who freaks out cause he can't take the pressure! And I'm gonna do an impression of him right now. And it goes something like this. GET ME OUT OF HERE!" He screamed, running for the exit.

"Not that I ever agree with him," said Raph. "But he's got a point."

"Agreed," said Leo. "Fun's over. Let's go."

The brothers were just about to leave...when a wall of rock melted away, and the three monsters they saw earlier in the tunnel crawled out and roared at them. The brothers readied themselves for battle.

"Guys?" whimpered Mikey. "This isn't the end of the movie, is it?"

Dante gulped. "Haven't you ever heard of sequels, Mikey?"


	14. Chapter 14

_My name is Donatello, and as a turtle of science, I like to investigate things. But I never thought my study of the strange crystals we found in our lair would awaken creatures from the underground, lead us on a search deep below the Earth, or take us to an abandoned Foot genetics lab where terrible things were done in the name of the Shredder._

There are some things man was never meant to tamper with.

That's the one line in a monster movie you don't wanna hear.

 _As a turtle of science, you wouldn't think I'm the type to believe in monsters, but you'd be wrong, dead wrong._

(!)

The boys backed into the lab as the monsters advanced toward them. "Uh, I think I speak for all of us when I say...ZOINKS!" whimpered Mikey.

"It's still five against three," Dante said. "We've got the advantage in numbers."

Then the blue monster spat acid at them, but they dodged just in time.

"Okay," said Mikey. "You guys take the three on the left."

"There are only three," said Raph.

"There's one for each turtle, and I'll just be odd turtle out!"

Dante slapped him upside the head. "You're not getting out of this."

While the turtles fought off the monsters, Dante attempted to join as well, but a thought kept him from doing so. They're not monsters! They're people! "Shut up, me. They're not humans anymore." Then he heard a hissing sound behind him. He turned around and saw the red scorpion monster appear before him, dripping saliva down its lips. Dante quivered, torn between fighting it and not wanting to hurt the person this thing used to be. "Please...don't..." The creature slashed its tail at him, but Raph pulled him out of its way just in time.

"What the shell is your problem?! Is your brain shutting down?"

"I...I can't do it. I can't fight them."

"Say what?"

"They're not monsters, Raph! They're humans!"

Raph slapped him upside the head. "Wake up, kid! They're not humans anymore!"

"But..."

Their conversation was interrupted when the brown stone monster jumped into the air and tried to stomp on them, but they managed to roll out of the way.

"Oh, man," Dante groaned. Suddenly, he heard a growling sound. He looked up and saw the blue insect monster looming over him. "Oh, man!" He backed away from it as it stalked him. Then, what it did next made his eyes widen. It spoke! "You will not take more of us," it snarled.

Dante was flabbergasted. "Y-y-you can talk?"

Suddenly, the two heard a loud creaking sound. They both turned to see the equipment that had been broken during the fight was starting to fall. Thinking fast, Dante grabbed the creature and pushed it out of the way. Then he jumped to safety before he could get crushed. Then he turned to the creature. "I know you're still a person, so let me ask you something. Why did you attack us?" But he didn't get his answer. The brown stone monster snuck up behind him, grabbed him by the shirt with its jaws and shook him.

"No!" the blue insect monster shouted. "Everyone, stop!"

The two monsters immediately ceased their fight with the turtles and Dante, much to their confusion. Then the blue monster walked over to Dante and sniffed him. "Drop him," it ordered the stone monster. It complied. Then the blue monster asked, "Who are you?"

"Not who you think we are."

"Then why do you carry _those_?" The blue monster pointed at Donny's bag where the two blue crystals were being held. The creatures snarled at the sight of them.

"Whoa, wait a minute," Leo shouted. "We found these crystals in a cavern where we're staying, that's all!"

"Yeah," said Raph. "And just what business is it of yours anyways?"

The blue creature said, "Those crystals are the embodiment of evil! Why have you come here?"

"Cause one of you ogres went sniffing around our place looking for trouble! So we're here to-" Mikey accused before Donny shut him up and said, "To just look for some answers. That's all."

"I'm Leonardo," Leo introduced himself. "And these are my brothers, Raphael, Donatello, Michelangelo and Dante."

The blue creatures looked at Dante. "A boy with turtles for brothers. Now I've seen it all. Anyway, we were drawn to your habitat when your crystals were activated."

"Gee," Donny said sarcastically. "Wonder who could have done that?" Mikey smiled sheepishly.

"Their energy is a sign of danger to us, so we considered you dangerous. Though we usually sense them coming from deeper below."

"Below? You mean there are more of these crystals down there? We just like to found out where they came from, that's all. And maybe..."

The blue creature became agitated. "No! It is a forbidden place! Something unspeakable dwells there amidst the crystals! There are some things man was never meant to tamper with." Mikey's eyes widened. The blue creature looked him over. "He _is_ an odd one."

"Still," Dante said. "I can't believe the Shredder turned you into his diggers just for the sake of finding some enemy of his."

The blue creature snarled, "Yes. And he did so without remorse. We were forced against our will to do his bidding."

"He kidnapped you, didn't he?"

"Yes. From the streets, our offices, our homes. Anywhere a shadow can conceal a Foot Solider! We don't know why we were chosen."

Then Leo asked the question Dante wanted to ask first: "What's your name?"

"I am Quarry of Tunnel Squad 3," the creature introduced itself. "The others are Stone Biter and Razor Fist." It pointed to the brown rock monster and the red scorpion monster respectively.

"No, not what the Foot called you," Leo said. "Your real name."

"Si...Sid..." Quarry shook his head and groaned. "My memory is...the experiments performed on us have stripped us of who we are."

"Yes. We saw the video log entries."

"Well, don't worry about Shredder," Raph said. "He got his due."

"Yeah," said Mikey. "He made the mistake of messing with the Ninja Turtles. There's a lesson to be learned in that if you know what I mean."

Dante chuckled. "Yeah. Don't mess with the turtles."

Suddenly, an alarm went off. Quarry gasped, "Oh, no! The others!" He ran to a still working computer. "They tripped an alarm in the east delta tunnel!"

"Others?" asked Dante.

Quarry ignored him and ran to the control panel of the forcefield he and his brothers shut off. He pressed a few buttons and the crystal started to glow...and then stopped. Quarry panicked. "No! No!"

"Don't do a no no," Mikey said. "I hate no no's!"

"It's no good," Quarry said. "The shield will not activate! We have no power, no forcefield! And they're heading this way!"

"Uh, yeah, about that," Dante said, rubbing the back of his head. "We kind of met your forcefield and we kind of...broke it."

"By we," Mikey said. "He means Raph." Quarry frowned at them. Suddenly, a loud roaring sound made everyone look up.

"What is out there?" asked Leo.

"The others," Quarry said as he attempted to hotwire the forcefield.

"Other what?"

"Test subjects. Like us. They endlessly prowl the tunnels."

"Why do you have to keep them out?" asked Dante. "Aren't they one of you?"

"They are dangerous! They attack us! They're violent, uncontrollable, their minds have deteriorated."

"From the experiments?"

"Yes."

Dante asked, "Then what about you and your friends?"

Quarry paused, then said sadly. "Madness looms in our future as well."

A loud roar was heard, getting closer. Dante ran to the pried open doors and attempted to pull them shut. "Stone Biter! Razor Fist! Help me shut it!" The two mutants nodded and helped the boy pull the doors closed. Meanwhile, the forcefield's crystal began to glow only to fizzle out. "Damn," Quarry cursed. "The crystal's energy has been completely burnt out!" The turtles and Dante unsheathed their weapons. "Your weapons will do no good. Without the forcefield, we won't last!" A loud roar was heard again. "They'll be on us within minutes."

"You know," said Mikey. "You're kinda freaking me out here. Are always such a naysayer?"

Donny took the crystal out of the generator and it instantly shattered. "Is that what the crystals are?" he asked Quarry. "Power sources?"

"Yes, but that was our only one. And when we found it in the catacombs, we paid dearly for it."

"Well," Leo said, reaching into Donny's bag to take out one of their own crystals. "What about one of ours?"

Quarry looked it over. "They're too small. It would not last."

"It only has to last until they give up and move on," Donny said, taking the crystal and putting it into the generator. But nothing happened. He tried jiggling it around. "Come on!"

A loud banging sound was heard. The door started to dent inward.

Quarry typed away on the computer. He groaned in frustration. "There is no spark!"

Donny banged the crystal with the other one, but nothing happened. "For some reason, they won't power up! Maybe the connections to these contact nodes were charred?"

"Or maybe you got the thing on upside down?" suggested Mikey.

Dante face palmed himself. "Mikey, it's not a battery."

"Okay," Donny said, after messing with some machinery. "Let's try it again."

The door banged open. In walked two monsters resembling more uglier versions of Quarry, Razor Fist and Stone Biter as well as a yellow spider-like monster.

"Um," said Dante to Donny. "I'm going out on a limb here, but, maybe Mikey's right?"

Donny looked at the crystal, then decided to wing it. He turned it then plugged it into the generator. The forcefield started up and Donny said, "It's working!"

"Told you so!" said Mikey.

The other monsters were pushed back by the forcefield and out the lab. They banged it, they punched it, they spat acid at it, but nothing would let them in.

Suddenly, the crystal began to glow brighter and brighter and the machinery let out a loud whirring noise. "It's overloading!" shouted Quarry.

Eventually, the other monsters left. And just in time, too. The crystal's power had burnt out completely.

"Tomorrow they will be back," Quarry said. "They always come back."

"Then you better have a bigger crystal."

"We will not survive another journey to the forbidden zone."

"What makes the place so...'forbidden'?" asked Mikey.

"The ancient catacombs stretch out for miles. We were forced to explore it. Many of us never returned."

"Uh...maybe they got lost?"

"They were taken! By a ghostly entity. There is never any sign of a struggle. They're just...gone."

"I don't believe in ghosts," Dante said.

"Look, I understand why you don't wanna go down there," said Leo. "but there are no other options. We need another crystal."

"And since we, uh," said Raph, scratching the back of his head sheepishly. "We're the ones who kind of fried your security system so we'll go with you. Right guys?"

The other turtles and Dante nodded. Okay, not _all_ of the other turtles. Mikey wanted out. "You know," he said. "The corner hardware store has a sale on generators that would really get this forcefield humming. So I'll just go up top and clip the coupon there."

"Oh, no, you don't," Dante and Raph said together, dragging him away.

It seemed Razor Fist and Stone Biter were thinking the same thing Mikey was. They were hesitant to leave the lab. "Be brave," Quarry said to them.

(!)

The monsters led the turtles and Dante down a series of tunnels. Since they couldn't see in the dark like the monsters could, Donny used their last crystal as a torch. "Let's keep our wits about us," said Leo.

"Don't worry, Mikey," Raph said with a playful smirk. "You can share my wits."

Mikey rolled his eyes. "Oh, so now, I'm witless. Must be why I'm the only one bothered by the fact we're heading to a place where even _monsters_ are afraid of."

(!)

The turtles and Dante screamed as they slid down a slide of rock and dirt, having taken a turn that led them downward. They halted, just inches away from a pool of steaming green liquid. "Shortcut?!" shouted Mikey. "In what mutated imagination can that be considered a -?!"

"Oh, sorry," Quarry said, as he, Stone Biter and Razor Fist climbed down the slide. "We forgot you can't scale rock."

"Let's try to avoid that mistake in the future, okay?" Raph suggested.

Mikey sniffed the air and plugged his nose. "Whoo! Who cut the cheese?"

"You're smelling a sulfur pool, Mikey," said Donny.

"Coming from a turtle who grew up in a sewer, trust me when I say this place stinks!"

"Nah," said Dante. "I've smelled worse. The Garbageman for one."

"Heh, heh. I like that."

Quarry said, "We must keep moving the others wander down here. This is their territory." He and the other mutants walked across a set of stones to the other side, leading the turtles and Dante across. Suddenly, a bubble popped out of pool and hovered in front of Dante. He blinked. He reached to poke it, only for a squid-like creature to pop out of it and screech before Quarry lashed out his tongue at it and ate it. He burped before saying, "We've learned to live off the land here for it lives off us."

"Survival of the fittest," Dante said.

(!)

Eventually, the creatures tunneled through a wall before scaling another down to where a river was. The turtles and Dante had to shimmy down. Suddenly, Leo lost his footing for a moment but he managed to get back up. "Whoa," he said. "That was too close for comfort. Watch your footing guys."

(!)

Next, the creatures led them across a bridge. Then they stopped. "This is it," Quarry said. The bridge ended as an edge that led to a whirlpool in the river. After a brief moment of hesitation, the creatures dove in. "Following monsters off a cliff probably isn't the smartest thing we have ever done," Leo said as he, Raph and Donny followed them.

"No," said Mikey. "But it's the grossest! That thing looks like a giant toilet!"

"Which makes you the tiny bowl turtle," Dante said. And he gave Mikey a push. The turtle screamed all the way down into the whirlpool. Dante inhaled and jumped. "COWABUNGA!"

The whirlpool led him to another stream, but this one ended with a line of spiked crystals. "Oh, you've got to be kidding me!" He tried to swim away, but found himself struggling to do so. "Current too strong! I'm gonna be a shish kabob!" But before the crystals could touch him, he felt a pair of jaws grab him by the shirt and pull him onto shore where the other monsters and the turtles were waiting. He turned around and saw Stone Biter behind him. "Oh, thanks." He let go of him.

"How far from the crystals are we?" Leo asked Quarry.

"They are here in the catacombs, but from this point on, we must keep very quiet."

As the turtles and Dante followed the monsters, Donny pointed to some strange blue and orange carvings on the walls. "Hey, Mikey, recognize these carvings?"

"Whoa, these are just like the carvings in our lair!"

"Then," Dante said. "Is our lair connected to these catacombs somehow?"

"Yeah," joked Raph. "Same interior decorator."

"Then, who is or was the decorator?"

Eventually, the boys and the monsters found some crystals on the walls. "Good," Quarry said. "This crystal will do. We needn't travel any deeper into this evil place."

Suddenly, a pebble landed on Dante's head. "Huh?" He looked up, then gasped and jumped out of the way as the other monsters who attacked the lab jumped down from the hole and onto the ground. Leo took the lead and ran into the catacombs. "Everyone, get to cover!"

Quarry was afraid and said as he ran, "But that way leads to -!"

"We have no choice! Let's go!"

But then they were stopped by a shut door. Quarry's acid, Stone Biter's jaws and Razor Fist's claws couldn't even scratch it. Then Donny saw a hole next to the door. It looked like a keyhole. "Stay back!" He put it in, but nothing happened. "Never mind."

Dante said, "Uh, did you put it in upside down again?"

Donny slapped himself. "Oh, come on!" He placed the crystal right side up. The door suddenly glowed and then opened. "Hey, it worked!" At that moment, a glowing bolas wrapped itself around Donny. He only had a brief amount of time to say "Hey!" before he disappeared instantly.

"Donny?" Mikey said, dumbfounded.

"No!" shouted Leo.

"Donny!" shouted Raph.

"What happened to him?!" shouted Dante. "He's gone!"

Heavy thudding footsteps were heard.

"And in a couple of minutes," said Mikey. "We'll be goners too!"

Quarry said gravely, "And here it ends..."


	15. Chapter 15

_The name is Raphael. Meet Stone Biter, Razor Fist and Quarry. They may look like monsters, but these poor souls were once ordinary people 'til the Shredder's mad scientists performed horrible genetic experiments on 'em. Experiments that will eventually leave them mindless like these other examples of Shredder's handiwork. The only thing keeping Quarry and his pals safe is a crystal powered force field, but now the crystal's all burned out and the only place to get another one is the Forbidden Zone._

Something unspeakable dwells there amidst the crystals, it is a forbidden place.

 _But we had no choice, so we all head down there anyway and that's when all shell breaks loose. Suddenly Donny's gone and I swear someone's gonna pay._

(!)

"DONNY!" shouted Dante. He ran to the spot where his brother was and looked around frantically. "No, no! Donny? Donny! DOOOOOOOONNNNYYYY!"

"Dante," Leo ordered. "Get away from there!"

Dante didn't listen. Then he saw it: a glowing bolas spinning right at him! He ducked just in time and watched as the bolas instead touched the yellow spider, making it vanish. Then more bolas spun at the other monsters, making Razor Fist and Stone Biter, who were busy fighting the other monsters, vanish as well. "No!" shouted Raph.

Only two more of the other monsters remained: the ones that resembled uglier versions of Stone Biter and Razor Fist.

"Come on, you big ugly trolls," Mikey dared. "Show me what you got!" They roared at him. "Okay...I'm impressed."

"Okay," said Dante. "Now what?"

"Come on!" shouted Leo. "Whatever's through this door can't be worse than this!"

"I hope those don't become famous last words," whimpered Mikey as he followed his brothers and Quarry down the tunnel. Leo stayed behind to pull the crystal out and follow the others. The door closed behind him, leaving the other monsters outside.

(!)

The turtles, Dante and Quarry finally reached the end of the tunnel and they gasped at what they saw: a citadel sitting on a pool of lava, carved out of the same blue and orange stone with crystals in them and there was a giant crystal sphere glowing right above it.

Quarry was trembling in fear. "We shouldn't be here! This is...this is a necropolis! A city of the dead!"

"You know," said Mikey. "If there's one thing that creeps me out more than monster movies, it's the city of the dead."

"I swear to heaven," Dante said. "If we find zombies in there, I quit being a ninja."

"Oh, why did you have to say that?!" said Mikey. "You know that I know _that_ is worse than monsters!"

"We're not leaving!" shouted Leo. "Whatever's haunting this place has made the mistake of snatching one of ours!"

Raph nodded. "And we'll level this whole city just to get him back!" He slashed a rock with one of his sai blades to prove his point.

"Hey, guys!" called out Dante. "I think I found a way down there!"

"Don't you always," Mikey said.

Dante pointed at the device he found: a gondola leading to the city. "Uh, maybe we better find us a different ride," said Raph.

"What are you talking about? It's fine." Dante patted it. There was a loud creaking sound. "Okay...maybe not so fine." He still walked into the gondola, ignoring the creaking it was making.

"Dante, don't," warned Raph.

"There's no way I'm getting in that thing," Mikey said, crossing his arms.

"It'll hold us," Leo said, walking in with Dante. He saw a control panel with a crystal keyhole. "And it looks like our crystal will power it."

"You're not going to put it upside down like Donny did are you?" asked Dante.

Suddenly, a loud roar made everyone turn. The other monsters found them!

"Well, what are you waiting for?!" shouted Raph as he, Mikey and Quarry ran into the gondola.

"Go, go, go!" shouted Mikey.

Leo pressed the crystal into the control panel and the gondola started to cross the lava and head to the city. Suddenly, it started to shake violently. The monsters jumped onto the gondola and were starting to tear it apart! Suddenly, there was a flash of light, and the gondola suddenly became lighter. It was clear that whatever took Donny took them as well.

Unfortunately, the sudden change in weight caused the cable to snap. The boys and Quarry jumped out of the gondola just before it crashed. They landed on solid ground, but they weren't out of the woods just yet. The pillar the gondola crashed into suddenly broke and fell on top of Quarry. Everyone rushed to help only to stop when the blue insect monster vomited acid and set himself free. Everyone stared at him. "We are designed to handle such adversity." He said that like it was pretty obvious.

(!)

The boys and Quarry walked into the center of the city, looking around at the buildings. "Those strange symbols again," Leo pointed to the carvings on the wall.

"Just like in our lair," said Dante.

"And from the looks of it," said Raph. "This city's been down here a very long time."

"Creepy," said Mikey.

"Hey, guys!" called out Leo. "I found some transportation." The devices looked like wheelless scooters.

"Of course," said Mikey sarcastically.

(!)

"Whoever built this place," Leo said as he, his brothers and Quarry explored the city. "They're definitely the same people who built our lair."

"But," said Dante. "Who were they? And why build our lair so close to the surface?"

"Whatever," said Raph. "Let's just focus on finding Donny. We can go sightseeing later."

As the boys and Quarry traveled through the city, Dante couldn't help but look up. "Did I just see...? Nah."

"Hold up!" ordered Leo. "I think I saw someone."

Dante blinked. "Okay, so I did see something."

Leo went into a small chamber. "Leo wait up" called out Mikey, as he, Raph, Dante and Quarry stopped in front of the entrance. But, no one was there. "Uh...Leo?"

"I'm going in!" said Raph, but before he could, there was a flash of blue light. "Leo!" The boys ran in only to find Leo's scooter, abandoned. "LEO! LEOOOOO!"

Mikey stopped him. "Calling out like that is probably not the best idea. He's gone. Just like the others."

The boys returned outside, but then they heard a groan. They readied their weapons, only to stop when Quarry stepped out and said, "Wait! It's just me!"

"What are you doing looking around like that?!" shouted Raph.

"H-hiding. You left me alone."

"Oh, man," Dante said. "We're sorry."

"Man," said Mikey. "Mutate some backbone, would ya?"

"THERE IT IS!" Quarry pointed.

"AAH!" Mikey shrieked.

In the distance was a humanoid wearing a blue hooded robe and a grey body suit and a crystal around his neck. He walked off. Raph was angry as he hopped onto the scooter. "That thing is mine!" He chased after the person...only to vanish in a flash of blue light.

"RAPH!" shouted Dante and Mikey.

"We better go look for him," Dante said. They suddenly realized they were alone. Groaning in annoyance, Mikey grabbed a shivering Quarry from behind a corner. They rode their scooters to the spot where Raph was only to find his scooter, abandoned.

"There goes another one," Dante said grimly.

"I warned you," Quarry said, clearly losing his wits. "I warned you all! Evil dwells in this dead city! We'll never get out alive!" TWACK! Quarry suddenly fell to his knees, clutching his crotch and groaning in pain. "Why did you do that, boy?"

"Man," Dante said, having had enough of the poor mutant's freak outs. "And I thought Mikey was a great big coward."

"He's right," Mikey said. "If there's going to be any hysterics around here, _I'll_ have them!" Then his eyes widened. "Like right now!"

Dante looked behind him and then up. There was the hooded figure, looking down at them from a roof. Mikey grabbed Quarry and hopped on his scooter, ready to drive it into the figure. But then, Quarry chickened out and jumped off. Mikey lost control and landed somewhere else in the city.

Dante was alone and, he hated to admit it, but he was afraid now. Panting, his tonfas at the ready, he looked around frantically. "Gotta find Mikey and Quarry and..." He bumped into someone. "M-M-Mikey...?" He turned and saw the hooded figure standing right behind him. He only had time to scream briefly before he saw nothing but a flash of blue light...

(!)

Dante still screamed as he found himself in another chamber. "Where am I?" He found a flight of stairs and walked down only to let out a shriek when he found himself surrounded by the other monsters that attacked them before. He readied his tonfas, but then put them away when he realized they weren't moving. In fact, they were encased in some sort of crystal. He tapped on one of their heads. "Solid crystal." He looked around and saw two familiar faces. "Razor Fist? Stone Biter? You're here too?"

"Dante?"

The boy turned around and saw Mikey. "How did you get in here?"

"I just came here to the creepy dark tower. And...whoa."

"Yeah. They're all here. The diggers." Then he realized something. "Mikey? Where's Quarry?"

The turtle looked over Dante's shoulder and pointed. "That answers your question!"

Dante turned around and saw their friend, encased in crystal like the other monsters. He looked down and saw a crystal at Quarry's feet. He reached for it...

"No, don't!" The boys looked up to see the hooded figure from earlier. "Please, do not touch that." He spoke in an ancient voice. "I am not finished with them."

Mikey and Dante growled in anger. "Yeah, you are!" they shouted. And together they did a round house kick into the figure's head, knocking him to the floor. Dante rushed over and pulled off the hood, revealing his face: a bald head with blonde hair on the sides and large red eyes with slit pupils like a cats. Mikey grabbed him by the collar and said, "Okay, baldy, where are our brothers?"

"Mikey! Dante!"

They both recognized that voice. They turned to see Leo, Raph and Donny leaning against a wall. "Bout time you got here. We've been up here waiting for you. WHOA!" Leo was tackled to the ground as Dante hugged him.

"Don't ever leave me again," the boy wept. "I was scared!"

Leo patted his back. "It's okay. We're okay."

(!)

The stranger led the boys to another chamber as Leo explained, "We had this guy figured all wrong!"

"Yeah," said Donny. "We saw how the Foot had mutated Quarry and the others and he just wants to turn them back to normal!"

The stranger said, "As we speak, the power of the cavern's crystal moon is infusing them with regenerative energy. Their bodies are being genetically rebuilt inside each crystal chrysalis. Within minutes, the last of them will be restored to their original human form."

"Thank you so much for clearing that up," said Mikey before whispering to Leo, "He's lying!"

Apparently, the stranger heard them as he said, "Michelangelo, your entirely safe I assure you. This city was built by a peace loving race." He grabbed the crystal necklace he was wearing as he added sadly, "Of which I am the sole survivor."

"What happened?" asked Dante.

A screen turned on, showing footage of the city during its hay day. The stranger said, "We have lived within the earth for many millennia, spiritually bonded with it. It was a symbiosis that had always sustained us for we were unable to endure the harshness of the outside world." The next image showed the stranger's people's elders in front of a window, revealing the dawn of man. "Then," the stranger said. "We detected life stirring on the surface. These new life forms fascinated us, so we began studying them from an outpost. The same outpost that most recently became your home. As the years passed, however, it soon became evident that our own time was drawing to a close. Yes, the earth had cast its vote and our entire race faced extinction. They're all gone now."

"How long has it been?" asked Donny.

"Long enough for it to make this a very lonely existence." He turned to the door of the chamber where the creatures were. "Which is why I want to return those people back to normal. Only then can they help me repopulate the city."

The brothers were silent. "Uh, you mean...birds and bees sort of thing," asked Dante.

"Well, I wouldn't count on that," said Leo. "They all have lives waiting for them on the surface. Families, friends."

"NO!" shouted the stranger. "They will stay! They must!"

This was starting to be uncomfortable. Leo said politely, "Well, I'm sure they'd be grateful but..."

"I refuse to let this city die! There's so much to pass on! They must stay...and so must you."

The brothers gasped.

"He's gone crazy," Dante said.

"You're right," said Donny. "I'm afraid being alone down here for so long has driven this guy slightly around the bend."

"That's what I said. He's crazy!"

Leo tried to keep this from escalating. "We appreciate the invitation to live in this wondrous world of yours, but..."

"Yes," The stranger said. "It is wondrous. A world were even mutated turtles can freely walk the streets. No more lurking in the sewers, no more hiding your faces, an entire city where you can finally be yourselves!"

"As enticing as that sounds," Donny said, but Raph interrupted him, "Let me put it this way: there's no way we're relocating to this creep boy community, understand? Now drop it."

"Come on," sad Dante. "Let's go release the others."

"Buh, bye," said Mikey.

But the door to the chamber immediately shut before they could walk out. The brothers turned to face the stranger. "Trust me," Leo said. "You don't want to do this."

"No! Heed my offer for my bond with the earth is strong!" And to prove it, tentacles made from the very room attacked the brothers. Donny tried to swing his bo staff, but a tentacle of stone grabbed him. Leo tried to help, only for one of the walls to form a hand and pin him. Raph tried to attack the stranger, only for the floor to sink his legs and arms.

"Some help you guys are," Dante said as he and Mikey backed into each other.

"Just get his amulet, guys," Donny said. "That's how he's controlling everything!"

Spears on the wall jumped out and flew at Mikey and Dante, but they ran and dodged them. "Before or after he impales us with those things?" asked Mikey.

"Definitely before," said Dante, kicking one of the spears at the stranger and knocked the crystal necklace off of him. Mikey and the stranger reached for it, but Mikey got to it first and tacked the stranger through a wall and into the room where the creatures were. "Time to put you on ice," Mikey shouted, throwing the stranger's own glowing bolas at him. He disappeared, then reappeared, standing on a platform that instantly encased him in crystal.

After that, Mikey returned to free his brothers from their bonds. "Thanks, Mikey," Leo said. "You really stepped up there."

"Not much for the highlight reel, though," he said as he and the others walked into the chamber. "I mean, the guy wasn't evil. Just lonely. Who could blame him?"

Now their attention turned to Quarry. "All right," said Raph. "Let's find something heavy and crack these babies open."

"Actually," said Donny, touching the crystal at the base of Quarry's feet. "No blunt force required. I believe this crystal is the release."

Sure enough, the crystal encasing Quarry shattered away, but also shattered Quarry as well, revealing...

"Quarry?" asked Leo, stunned.

"You're a girl?!" shrieked Mikey. He and his brothers covered their eyes. Well, except Dante. He just stared with wide eyes until Mikey covered them. "Hey!"

Quarry looked at her hands and said, "I'm...back to normal!"

"Come on, boys," said Leo. "Let's free the others. And no peeking, Dante!"

"I wasn't!"

(!)

After freeing and restoring the others, the boys found some clothes they could wear. They were just about to leave the city when one of them, formally known as Stone Biter, stepped into the shadows and reverted back to his mutated self. When Dante and Donny forced him back in, he returned back to being a human.

"He...he reverted back just as he stepped out of the cavern," Quarry exclaimed. "Why?"

Dante mumbled to himself, "'As we speak the power of the cavern's crystal moon is infusing them with regenerative energy.' The crystal moon!"

He led everyone back to the city and pointed up. "That's it! Remember what he said? The crystal moon's light is the only thing keeping you guys from turning back into monsters! Stray too far from it, and the effects are reversed!"

The former monsters gasped in horror. "Then," Quarry said. "We can't leave this city? I don't believe it. He got what he wanted after all."

"We'll figure this all out," Leo assured them. "Don's pretty good at..."

"No. We can't let you stay. Who knows it will take?" The other former monsters agreed with Quarry.

"We can't just leave you here!" Dante shouted.

Mikey agreed, "Yeah! Just taking off is not our style!"

But Quarry shook her head. "Please. You have your own lives to get back to. Believe me, if a solution is here, we'll find it."

"I'll keep studying the crystals," Donny said. "We can beat this."

"And then, we'll be back," vowed Leo.

"That's a promise," agreed Raph.

Quarry smiled. "Thank you."

(!)

Dante was still down as he and his brothers went down a tunnel that returned them to the sewers. "I still feel like we did all that for nothing."

"No we didn't," assured Leo. "We restored those people's humanity."

"But they can't leave."

"Like I said, we'll free them."

Suddenly, they heard footsteps and they hid around a corner. Then they watched in shock as Foot Soldiers ran down the tunnel, armed with flashlights. "Foot Ninjas?" Leo asked, confused.

"What are they doing down here?" asked Raph.

Suddenly, a grey furry hand grabbed Mikey, only for another to shut his mouth before he could scream. The hands belonged to Splinter who shushed him.

"What?" asked Mikey. "I'm the only screamer? You have to cover just my mouth?"

"Dad," Dante said. "What's going on?"

"I do not know," the rat said. "But I believe the Foot are searching the sewers for us. They are everywhere."

"You gotta be kidding me," growled Raph.

"We cannot reach the lair undetected. We must find a new place to stay and fast."

"I think I know just the place," Dante said with a smile.

"I think I know what you're thinking," Mikey said with a smile.

(!)

April, clad in her bed robe and sleep mask, opened the door to the Second Time Around and was surprised to see the turtles, Dante and Splinter outside. "Hey April," Mikey said. "Ghoulish mudpack!"

"Mind if we bunk upstairs in your apartment for a while?" Leo asked as he and his brothers entered without a say from April.

"Hey, what's to eat?" asked Raph.

"You got digital cable?" asked Donny.

Something crashed. "Sorry!" called out Dante.

Then Splinter came in. "Miss O'Neil, your hospitality is very much appreciated."

April just blinked at the odd scene before she closed the door.


	16. Chapter 16

**This episode is dedicated to Jack Kirby, "King of Comics".**

 _My name is Donatello. Being a Ninja Turtle, I've seen a lot crazy things in the past few years, but this really takes the prize. At first, I thought I was dreaming, then I wished I was. But this was no dream, this was definitely a nightmare._

(!)

"To recap," Dante said to no one in particular. "After our adventure in the underground, we discovered that the Foot Clan has been searching the sewers for our lair, and us. So we have to stay in April's place for the time being."

"Who are you talking to?" asked April.

"Myself. It's a coping mechanism I just came up with."

"No it's not," Mikey said. "It makes you sound crazy."

"Look," said Raph. "We need to go back down there and flush those stinking Foot Ninjas out of our sewers! And I mean _flush_ ," he added, pounding his hands together.

"Raph," said Leo. "We don't even know what they're doing down there!"

"I DON'T CARE!"

"YOU SHOULD!"

"My sons," said Splinter before things got ugly. "You thwarted their many schemes and defeated their master. Clearly they are searching for our lair."

"I thought with the Shredder gone, we'd seen the last of those bozos," said Mikey. "Do you really think they can find our lair?" Then he panicked. "I just got my room the way I like it! And my famous ninja trading card collection is just lying out in the open! If they take that I'll...I'll..." Dante slapped him. "Thank you. I needed that."

"Relax Mikey," Donny assured him. "With all the techno-camouflage and security devices I installed down there, there's no way they'll find our home." He handed him a bag of chips. "Barbecue soy chip?"

"Fire away bro!"

"Pass me one, too," Dante said.

Raph wasn't buying it. "Those nin-jerks are keeping us from our home! We should be down there smacking heads!"

"You know what," shouted Dante. "That's the problem with you Raphael! You never think these things through!"

"I _am_ thinking through! I'm thinking we go down, bash some ninjas out of our sewers and get our home back!"

"Dante is right," Splinter said. "Running into battle without knowledge or preparation is foolish. Sometimes, it's best to sit still. The answers will come."

"Master Splinter and Dante are right," said Leo. "Besides, a home is where we are all together as a family. That's what really matters."

April, who was sitting on a couch and hearing this whole argument, cleared her throat. "You guys are welcome to stay as long as you need to just as long as you don't stand in front of the TV."

Raph and Leo blushed with embarrassment then moved out of April's view. "Uh, sorry," said Raph.

"Sorry," said Leo.

Suddenly, the doorbell rung. "Oh, no," April said. "Who could that be?" She walked to the door. "You guys can't be seen. You better all..." But then she realized she was alone. "Hmm." She opened the door and was greeted by a food delivery boy. "Johnny's Takeout. Fourteen ninety-five, ma'am."

April raised an eyebrow. "But I didn't order any..."

"I did." April turned around to see Dante sitting on the couch. "I can pay you back."

"With what? You don't have a job. I'll get my purse."

After paying the delivery boy, April turned around to see the turtles and Splinter were back. "Hey," she said, impressed. "You're good!"

"It's our job," said Leo.

"We're ninja," said Donny.

"Yeah," said Mikey. "Check out my ninja stealth action! Now you see me..." He hid his face behind the chips bag. "...now you don't!"

"Give me that, Houdini!" Donny snatched the bag away from him. "You've been hogging the nachos all afternoon!"

April handed them their takeout. "Your order I presume? I know it wasn't Dante who ordered this." she said sarcastically.

"He did it!" Donny and Mikey pointed.

"May I have the privilege of getting you anything else, my lords?"

Donny shook his head as Mikey took the food. "Nope. We're fine. Thanks."

Mikey salivated as he handed himself and Donny the food. "One from column A, one from column B."

April groaned. "I feel like I've gone from happily single to mother of five overnight."

Splinter nodded. "Tell me about it."

Raph let out a yawn. "Well, I'm hitting the showers."

(!)

Everyone was doing their own thing: Donny was fixing some electronics, April, Leo and Splinter were having dinner, Mikey was watching TV with Dante and Raph was still in the showers, singing a tuneless melody. That was until he let out a yell and burst the door open, letting steam out. "Yo, Donny!" he said, a towel wrapped around his waist. "Can you do something about that hot water? A turtle can't even get a decent shower in this joint!"

"Been there done that," Donny said.

"Well go over there, and do it again!"

The genius turtle groaned. "Why is it always me? Why don't you ask Mikey to fix something once in a while?"

Mikey let out a burp. Then he realized everyone was looking at him. "What?"

Donny groaned in defeat. He stopped doing his work and headed for the basement. "Never mind. I'll go fix the water heater. Again."

"I really appreciate it, Don," April said.

"No problem."

"But keep an eye out for Kirby. You know, the guy I leased the basement apartment to? I don't need you scaring my new tenant."

"Don't worry, April. I'm a ninja. Piece of cake."

Mikey perked up. "There's cake? I love cake!"

"Maybe I should go help," Dante said. "I want to make sure you do it right and won't have to hear Raph complain about the water again."

"If you insist."

(!)

The two boys headed down to the basement where it was awful dark. "I know there's a light switch somewhere," Donny said.

"This it?" Dante asked, giving it a pull and turning the light on.

Suddenly, the boys heard a loud screech and from around the corner, a large bat-like thing flew right at them and screeched. The boys jumped back, but found their courage and readied their weapons. The creature went around the corner and they chased after it, but to their amazement, it was gone!

"Where did it go?" asked Dante.

"I could have sworn it went this way," Donny said.

Then they heard something scratching coming from a door at the end of the hall. They peeked inside to find a black haired man wearing a red shirt, blue pants and black shoes. In his hand was a pencil, the source of the scratching. Tied to the pencil was a pink glowing crystal.

"Is that the tenant April was talking about? What was his name, Kirby?" asked Dante.

"I guess," Donny said.

They watched as Kirby drew on a sketch pad of a picture of a robotic fly. Then to their shock, the picture literally stepped off of the paper and began to fly around!

"How did he do that?" gasped Donny and Dante at once. They watched as the fly buzzed around their heads, then vanish into thin air. It was at that moment they realized that Kirby had spotted them.

"What? A green monster?" Kirby said, looking Donny over. He looked back at his sketch book. "I don't remember drawing you." Then he gasped and said in fear, "You must...you must be here for your crystal. Look pal, I was only borrowing it for a while! Just put the stick down!"

Dante held up his hands. "He's not going to hurt you!"

Kirby looked at the boy. "Huh? He's not?"

"He's right," Donny said. "I know I must look weird to you, but I'm not here to hurt you. My name is Donatello and this is Dante." The boy waved his hand. "And I don't know anything about any crystal."

"But I think we'd all like to know how you just made that drawing of the robot fly come to life," Dante said.

Kirby looked at his pencil and laughed. "It wasn't really me. I mean, I can draw, sure. I've been doing it for years, but it's this crystal. It supplies the magic."

Dante and Donny face palmed themselves. "Why did it have to be crystals?" asked Dante.

"What do you mean?"

"Nothing," Donny said. "It's just that we've had our fair share of magic crystals lately."

"You should really try it," Kirby said, handing Donny the pencil. "Here, let me find you a clean page." He flipped in his sketch book until he found a blank page.

"Say," Donny said. "Doesn't my appearance freak you out a little?"

Kirby smiled and shook his head as he said, "Fella, since my sketches started leaping off the page, I've seen freakier. Believe me. By the way, my friends call me Kirby."

"I know," Dante said. "April told us your her tenant." Donny slapped him. "OW!"

"Did you have to tell him that?!" snapped Donny.

"Sorry!"

"'April'? 'More'? There's more of you?"

Donny and Dante looked at each other. Then Dante asked, "Can you keep a secret?"

"Fellas, I've been keeping my lips sealed about this crystal for years. You can tell me anything."

And so, Dante told the gist of the story: Four baby turtles and a rat fall into toxic ooze and become more humanoid in both shape and intelligence. The rat taught the turtles ninjutsu and named them after the Italian Renaissance painters. Then he told him the story of how he was adopted by the turtles. Kirby was excited when he was finished. "Amazing! That could be just the material needed for a comic book!"

"Don't tell Mikey you said that," Dante said. "He's had enough of the superhero life."

"Anyway," Donny said. "Where did you get this crystal, Kirby?" He held up the pencil.

"I found it in a pile of coal of all places and accidentally discovered what it could do. Here, draw something."

Donny sat down at Kirby's desk and said, "This is too good to pass up. I wonder if there's some sort of bio-molecular energy transfer involved?"

"Don, just draw something."

Dante said, "Took the words right out of my mouth. No geek talk, Donny."

"Well, okay, but I'm afraid a stick person is the best I can do," the turtle said, drawing his stickman.

"Don't worry," Kirby said. "it takes a few years of practice before you can really have fun. Not a bad stick guy, though."

"And...done."

And just like that, the stickman suddenly jumped off of the paper and bounced about. "This is too wild," Donny laughed.

"Told you," said Kirby.

And then the stickman kicked Donny's shins. "Ow! Hey, cut that out!" And just like that, the stickman vanished. "It just disappeared!"

"They all do," Kirby said. "Everything I draw comes to life and then they just vanish. One exception, though." He walked over to something covered by a sheet. "A thing I drew a couple weeks ago. It didn't go away." He pulled the sheet off revealing a metal archway with a purple and blue spiral in it. "Can't really tell you what it is."

"Looks like a weird kind of doorway," Donny said.

Dante stuck his head in. Then he stuck it back out, a look of amazement on his face. "Guys! You've got to check this out!"

"Wait!" But it was too late; Dante ran in. "Oh, why does he always do this?"

(!)

Dante was looking around, eyes wide with excitement. "There you are!" Donny exclaimed. He and Kirby rushed up to him. "Do you have any...idea..." Whatever the genius turtle was going to say next, he forgot entirely when he saw the world the three of them found themselves in. It was a green plain with a black sky with strange looking stars. But the most eye catching thing was the pink bridge that led to the city in the sky. "What is this place?"

"Don't know," Dante said. "Isn't it exciting?"

"It's like some sort of alternate reality. A different dimension. It's incredible!"

"It all looks familiar," said Kirby. "Too familiar."

"What do you mean?" asked Donny.

Kirby showed them his sketch book. "Look." Dante and Donny's eyes widened. "No way!" the former said.

"Yes way! I drew it! I drew it all!"

Suddenly, there was a grunting sound. They looked and saw a rock ogre sniffing around. "Hey," Dante said. "Isn't that one of your drawings, Kirby?"

Kirby looked at the sketch book again. "It is! I remember drawing that one!"

They watched as the creature lumbered off. "It's ignoring us?" said Donny.

"Come on," said Kirby.

The three of them followed the creature over the hill and saw a battle taking place. Monsters fighting against men in strange armor. "Looks like someone's ready for a monster sized beat down," said Dante.

"Those creatures are going to rip those guys apart," exclaimed Kirby.

They watched as the warriors fought off the monsters, but despite their efforts, the warriors were clearly unmatched. Then one warrior shouted, "You shall not pass!" and threw its hammer at them. The hammer exploded, defeating some of the monsters, but not all of them. The surviving monsters lumbered forward.

"Let's go help them," Dante said, charging into battle and twirling his tonfas.

"Dante!" shouted Donny. "Stay here, Kirby. We've got it covered."

The monsters loomed over the warriors and were about to eat them until they heard someone say, "Hey! Coming through!" The monsters turned to see a kid and a turtle charge at them. Dante swung two monsters with his tonfas while Donny tripped two more with his bo staff.

The warriors watched as the monsters were defeated by the boy and the turtle. "What manner of strange creatures are they?"

Dante panted along with Donny. "Oh, man, these things just keep coming!"

"To arms," the warriors shouted, aiding Donny and Dante in the fight.

The monsters were defeated easily, and they made a hasty retreat.

Kirby ran down the hill to high five Dante and Donny. "We came, we saw, we kicked its ass!" Dante laughed.

"Language," Donny scolded.

"Sorry."

"Wow, boys," Kirby said. "You've got some moves! I've never seen anything like that! Except maybe the comics."

Just then, the warriors approached the three and shook their hands. "Hail to you, strangers," a red headed warrior said.

"Uh, hi," Donny said. "I mean, hail."

"You are welcome here."

"What's going on here?" asked Dante.

"We few are all that stands against the darkness, the creatures which you helped us defeat. We owe you our gratitude. But we must prepare. They will return."

"We can take them," Donny said. "We were just getting warmed up!"

"They will return in greater numbers. More than we can possibly defend against and when they come in full force, we may lose the bridge and with it, our city." The warrior's face turned grim. "I cannot bear to think of the dark forces destroying our wondrous city, our loved ones, our families. Those monsters; they will destroy everything."

Dante's fist clenched. "That will not happen."

"That's right," Donny said.

"We'll do whatever we can to stop them," said Kirby.

"Sire!" one of the warriors said. "Here they come! THousands of them!"

Over the hill came an army of monsters too numerous to count. Some of them were duplicates of the same monster, some of them were armed with huge clubs and swords. "We must defend the entrance to the bridge," the red-headed king said. "Even if it costs us our lives!"

"Let's do it," Donny said, but his confidence decreased when he saw the army grow and grow in numbers.

Dante's jaw dropped at the sight of monster army. "You drew. All of. THEM?!"

Kirby scratched the back of his head. "Yeah, I have a habit of drawing a lot."

"Did you have to be so prolific," Donny said. "Couldn't you have drawn less?! _Or maybe some more **friendly** guys_?!"

Kirby shrugged his shoulders. "Heck, how was I supposed to know they'd all come alive and attack us?"

As the army got closer, they could see just how outnumbered they were. Dante squeaked, "We're dead."

"We must not let them cross the bridge," the king said.

Dante exhaled then shouted, "If we die trying, we die fighting!"

The warriors, Donny charged into the fray, fighting off the monsters. Dante was about to join when he saw Kirby drawing in his sketch book. "What are you doing?! This is no time to be sketching!"

"Just stand still! I got an idea!"

"What idea?"

"If my crystal made all my drawings become real, then maybe...done." When Kirby was finished drawing, some strange gun appeared in both Donny and Dante's hands. "What the shell?!" the boys said at once.

"I call it a gravity equalizer," Kirby said. "It cancels the gravity equation. I just made it up."

Donny smiled. "I like it." When a couple of monsters ran up to him, he pulled the trigger. When the lasers it fired touched the monsters, they were left floating in the air.

"Neat!" Dante said, firing his own gravity equalizer at another pair of monsters, sending them flying upward.

Next, Donny fired another pair of monsters ganging up a warrior and sent them flying as well. He blew the smoke from the barrel and said, "The gravity equalizer. Don't leave home without it!" Suddenly, another monster charged up at him, but when he attempted to fire, the gun sparked and shut down. "Uh, oh! That doesn't sound good!" The monster slashed at him, but he bashed it upside the head, knocking it out. "Makes for a good club anyway."

"Mine still works," Dante called out as he fired more monsters. "But we can't keep this up for much longer!"

Meanwhile, Kirby was sketching another drawing, mumbling to himself, "Add a size reference for scale, finish it up with a few details and...voila!" The next thing Dante and Donny knew, they were with the sketch artist inside the cockpit of a large yellow robot with a pair of clawed tentacles and a cage shaped like a wide open mouth. "Whoa," Donny exclaimed. "Unbelievable! And what do you call this one?"

"It's kind of a mobile creep trapper," Kirby said. "It's supposed to respond to my brainwaves, see?" And with a thought, the robot's arms reached forward and started grabbing the monsters and placing them in the mouth-shaped cage.

Donny smiled as he tossed his useless gun away. "Looks like its time for Operation Cleanup! Alright, Kirby, you do your thing and I'll do mine!" And he jumped from the cockpit and into the fray, bashing more monsters with his bo staff. "I'll stay up here and cover you," Dante called out, using his gravity equalizer to send more monsters into the sky.

Then the king pointed to the bridge and shouted the one thing they didn't want to hear. "The creatures have broken through! We must stop them!"

"Hey, get back here you creepy creeps! Unless you're afraid!" Only three of the monsters heard Donny's taunt and charged at him and tackled him. Dante continued to fire at the monsters, but more and more kept coming.

"I can't stop them all!" he cried, wiping sweat off his forehead.

"It's no good!" Donny shouted. "There's too many of them!"

Kirby paced back and forth. "What to do, what to do?" Then he stopped and snapped his fingers. "Wait, that's it!" He flipped through his sketch book. "If all these goons are in this sketch book, then..."

"Then what?" shouted Dante.

"Yes, yes!" Kirby exclaimed as he started to draw restraints on the monster drawings.

Dante turned to see the monsters just feet away from the city. He shouted, "HURRRY!"

"Just need to add a few details and...DONE!"

In a flash, the monsters in the battlefield and approaching the city were instantly stuck in shackles, cages and other forms of restraints. They collapsed to the ground, squirming to get out. The warriors lifted their weapons in the air and shouted, "Huzzah!"

The king said to Kirby as he and Dante jumped down from the robot, "Thank you, mighty sorcerer. You are welcome in our land and our homes anytime."

"Gee, thanks!"

"Kirby my friend," Donny said. "You _are_ the King. How did you do that?"

Kirby showed him his sketches. "As fast as I could."

Dante laughed and said, "It's a good thing you can work under pressure."

"I didn't think I could."

Donny placed a hand on Kirby. "Come on, we should go home."

"Yeah, I guess you're right," the sketch artist said as he and the boys walked back to the portal. "Though I gotta say, I really with we had more time to explore this place! I mean, it's incredible!"

"Hey, we can do that another day. How about some chow? I'm starved."

"As long as you're buying."

"Uh, Kirby," Dante said, pointing at the portal. "Is it supposed to do that?" The portal was starting to shrink!

"The portal," exclaimed Donny.

"It's shrinking," Kirby exclaimed. "Donny, Dante, you go first!"

Dante nodded and jumped through, finding himself back in April's apartment. He grabbed the portal's edges, hoping he would be able to keep it open just a little longer. Suddenly, Donny jumped out halfway through, only to get stuck. "Hang on, Don!" Dante pulled his arms until Donny was all the way through. Then the portal completely vanished. "NO!"

"Kirby!" shouted Donny.

Something tapped the turtle on the shoulder. It was a paper airplane, one that flew through the portal just in time before it vanished. When Donny unfolded it, he looked down sadly. Suddenly, the gravity equalizer in Dante's hand vanished in a flash of light and in its place was a piece of paper. Something was drawn on it. Dante took one look at it and started crying.

(!)

Raph was waiting at the top of the stairs when Donny and Dante returned. "So what's the skinny," he said. "You've been gone for ages! You got hot water or what?" Donny and Dante glared at him. Raph backed off as they walked back into April's apartment. "Sheesh! What's eating them?"

(!)

Dante and Donny walked to a counter and unfolded their respective papers. They took another look at them and Dante asked Donny, "Will we find a way to get him out of there?"

"I don't know."

Dante sighed and said, "Long live the King."

They took a third look at the papers. They had drawings of Donny and Dante with their gravity equalizers. Only Donny's had a message written on it.

 **"Donny, Dante, life at best is bittersweet. Take care of yourselves. See ya around, pals! Kirby."**

(!)

 _This is the extended ending that can be found on TV and on the DVD, but strangely not on YouTube for some strange reason._


	17. Chapter 17

_My name is Leonardo. There are times in your life when you draw on everything you have. Times when you reach down into the deepest part of yourself. When you know you gotta give it your all, because anything less won't get the job done. It's in times like these that you find out who you_ really _are. That is, if you live long enough._

(!)

Dante awoke one early morning with the sound of cluttering. He slowly awoke to find Leo leaving the apartment via the window. "Leo?"

"Go back to sleep, Dante. I'm just going out for a morning exercise."

"In broad daylight?"

"Don't worry, I won't be spotted. Just go back to sleep."

"Okay."

(!)

Dante awoke some time later with the sound of Mikey yelling. His ninja instincts kicked in and he awoke and readied himself for battle along with Donny and Raph.

"What? What is it?!" shouted Raph.

Mikey chuckled sheepishly. "I slept on my hand and it got numb and it hit my face and I thought somebody slapped me. Don't you hate that? OW!"

"That wasn't a dream," Dante said, slapping him.

Raph walked to the bathroom but Mikey beat him to it. "First dibs on the bathroom!" Raph groaned and banged his head against the door.

(!)

One thing that Dante had to give Mikey for was cooking breakfast. Which was what he was currently was doing later that morning. April came into the living room, clad in a night gown and yawned. "I really do have four turtles and a rat sleeping in my living room," she mumbled. "I thought I was having a really bad dream." Then she sniffed the air. "Hey, what's burning?"

"Mikey's cooking," Raph said as he read a book.

"Hey," called out Mikey. "Scrambled's okay with everybody, right?"

"Again?!" everyone shouted. It seemed that was Mikey's specialty. Even it wasn't intentional.

"Hey guys," Mikey called out. "Where's Leo?"

"He is engaged in his morning exercises," Splinter said.

The sound of thunder made Donny look outside. "If he doesn't get back soon, he's gonna get soaked! That sky is looking angry."

(!)

Later, Raph and Mikey were setting up the table, with Mikey tossing the plates like frisbees and Raph catching them and placing them down. When April saw what they were doing she immediately flipped out. "NO! Not the China!"

"Whoops!" Raph said when he fumbled. He dropped the plate, shattering it.

April sighed. "Why should today be any different?"

"Kids," agreed Splinter.

"Sorry April," apologized Mikey.

"Yeah," said Raph. "Uh, you got any glue?"

"Don't sweat it," she said, sitting down. "I realize it's tough for seven uh...people to share a one apartment."

Donny put a hand on her shoulder. "We'll be out of your way as soon as we can."

"Don't get me wrong! I love you guys, I really do! It's just...my place is too small."

"We will leave as soon as the Foot Clan are gone the tunnels surrounding our lair."

Just then, Mikey came in balancing plates of eggs and toast on his head and arms. April's danger sense kicked in again. "Um, can I help you with that _very delicate China_?"

Mikey smiled. "I got it. Thanks." And he tossed them into the air. April let out a shriek and closed her eyes. She did not hear a crash. When she opened her eyes, the plates were neatly placed on the table in front of her and her guests. Mikey laughed as he took a seat. "Ninja training." And he proceeded to scoff down the eggs.

"Say what you will about Mikey," Raph said, scoffing down his own eggs. "But he knows how to scramble an egg."

April stuck out her tongue in disgust. "So, one would think," she said to Splinter. "That table manners are a part of their training?"

Splinter sighed. "One would think."

"Shouldn't Leo have been back by now?" asked Mikey.

"Hey, of the four of us," Donny said. "Leo's the one turtle you never have to worry about."

Dante looked at the clock. "It's already seven. Does he usually take this long?"

"Sometimes," Splinter said.

(!)

After breakfast, Donny and Raph were washing the dishes. Mikey peeked his head in the kitchen. "You guys need any help?"

"Keep him away from the dishes!" shouted April.

"Yes! It worked! Heh, heh!" And he zipped off to do God knows what?

"Is it me," Raph said. "Or is he getting worse?"

Lightning struck outside.

"Leo must be nuts to be out in this weather," Donny said.

"Ah, you know Leo and his training," Raph said as he dried a cup. "Nothing stops him."

(!)

It was eight o clock. Donny, Dante and Raph were watching American football on TV. "Panthers, Rams, Bears. They even got Dolphins," ranted Raph. "You'd think they have something more...reptilian."

Donny looked at him. "The Turtles?"

"Yeah."

"My friend, unfortunately, the lowly turtle has been saddled by society with the stereotype for being velocity challenged."

Raph blinked. "Say what?"

"Turtles are too slow to ever be a football team," Dante said.

"That's what I said," Donny said.

"Yeah," Raph said. "But Dante said it better."

Suddenly, Mikey walked right into the living room. "May I have your attention please?" Everyone looked at him. There was a pause. Then Mikey opened his mouth and went, "BUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUURRRRRRRRRRRRPPPPPPP!" Everyone was silent. Then Dante burst out laughing while Raph and Donny said, "Cool!" and applauded.

"Ew!" exclaimed April, now wearing her normal clothes.

Splinter shook his head and sad gravely, "This is what I live with all the time."

Mikey took a bow and said, "Please, please, you're too kind."

Donny looked at his hands. "I can't believe I just clapped to that." Raph looked at his hands as well.

"That's it," he said. "I'm gonna look for Leo so we can get this show on the road. No offense, April, but we really need to get back to our lair. Going stir crazy!"

"You will go nowhere," Splinter scolded. "Until your brother returns! Sit!"

"Man, what a gip. What gotta sit down on our butts while Leo's having all the fun."

(!)

Eight forty-five. Still no Leo. Everyone was getting worried and concerned at this point. "Master Splinter," Dante said. "Does Leo normally take this long?"

Splinter said nothing for a while. Then he said, "No."

"That's it," Dante said, getting up. "I'm pulling a Raph here and going to find Leo!"

"Master Splinter?" Raph asked the rat for his permission.

Again the rat said nothing for a while. Then with a deep sigh, he said, "Go."

"Geez," Mikey said, worried out of his wits. "What if something really happened to him?"

His answer came in the form of Leo being flung through the window. He was covered in bruises and blood and his swords were missing. He looked barely alive. The brothers, April and Splinter gasped and ran up to him. "Leo, what happened," Raph demanded, shaking him. "Who did this?!"

Dante growled. "I'm gonna..."

"No, Dante," Leo said in a hoarse voice. "Wait..." He grabbed Dante by the collar and what he said next made everyone's blood turn cold before he passed out. "He's...back...the...Shredder."


	18. Chapter 18

_The worst has come to pass. My son Leonardo was out on a training exercise when he was ambushed and chased across the city by the dark forces of the Foot Clan. He was returned to us broken and battered, only to deliver a terrible message._

He's...back...the...Shredder.

 _I had foolishly thought the worst had come to pass, but now I fear it is yet to come._

(!)

Dante was hyperventilating. "No...no...no...no...this is a bad dream."

"What?!" exclaimed April. "What did he just say?!"

"He said," Mikey said with horror. "The Shredder's back!"

"No way," shouted Raph. "We were all there! We all saw what happened that night on the roof!"

The Shredder fighting Splinter, Splinter causing a water tower to fall on top of him. They had seen it all happen.

"There's no way any human could have survived that!" exclaimed Donny.

"We're not dealing with _any_ human," Raph said. "This is the Shredder!'"

Mikey looked out the window and said, "If you read comic books you should know...the bad guy always comes back! Always!"

"This is not a comic book," shouted Dante. Then he went back to muttering, "This is a bad dream. This is a bad dream. This is a bad dream."

"We need to get Leo out of here," said April.

"She is right," said Splinter. "We must leave now!"

When Mikey looked out the window, his eyes widened. "Uh, guys? We got company!" There were Foot Soldiers on the rooftops of the neighboring buildings. "What's the plan?" Mikey said, panicking. "Leo's the one with the plan! So what are we gonna do without Leo to come up with a plan?"

"I got a plan," Dante said, grabbing the couch. "Prop up the furniture! Block the windows!" Raph helped Dante while Donny and Mikey grabbed whatever furniture they could and placed them in front of the windows.

"How long do you think that will hold?" asked Mikey. A spear punctured the couch. "AAH!"

"Does that answer your question?" asked Raph.

The furniture suddenly gave way as the army of Foot Soldiers jumped through the windows, weapons at the ready. "Master Splinter," Donny shouted. "Grab Leo! We'll cover you!"

While the brothers fought of the Foot Ninjas, Splinter and April quietly carried Leo away from the fight.

Mikey, Dante, Donny and Raph blocked the Foot's weapons, pushed them back and struck back hard. Raph tossed a Foot Ninja's sword at another, just missing his head. Donny swung his bo staff like a golf club, tripping some more. Dante smacked the heads of some more ninjas and head butted them. Mikey caught a Foot Ninja's sword with his nunchucks' chains and tossed it away.

Suddenly, one giant Foot Soldier grabbed Mikey and tossed him away. When he spotted Leo, April and Splinter, he raised his sword. "NO!" shouted Splinter, blocking the sword with his walking stick. Then he kicked the giant Foot Soldier away. He turned to Mikey. "I will hold them off! Help April get your brother down the stairs and out through the antique shop!"

Leo let out a groan. "My swords...where...are my swords...?"

"Take it easy bro," Mikey said. "We're getting you out of here!"

Splinter punched the giant Foot Solider, knocking him unconscious. Just then archers came in and fired arrows at the rat. But Splinter was unfazed and simply grabbed them before snapping them in two. "Enough! Raphael, Donatello, Dante, cover the rear! Michelangelo, I told you to help April get Leonardo downstairs!"

While the brothers and Splinter protected April and Leo, the girl and turtle walked toward the door. "I can walk," groaned Leo.

"Leo, lean on me."

"April...leave me. Get away if you can. This is our fight, not yours."

April got angry. "'Not my fight'?! Look Leo, we're all family now! I could never run out on you! Let's go!" She ushered Leo to the door, but when she opened it, she let out a scream as more Foot Soldiers walked in, swords in hand. Dante saw this and growled. "GET AWAY!" He grabbed a stool and charged at the ninjas, pushing them out the door and over the stair railing. "Ladies and gentle mutants," he said. "Run, don't walk, to the nearest exit!"

"Raph!" called out Donny as he knocked out a Foot Soldier. "This bus is leaving!"

Raph blocked the ninjas coming in through the windows while Donny stayed by Leo, April and Splinter. Dante and Mikey walked down the stairs. "Be alert," Splinter warned. "the shop is our only exit. And they know it."

Dante and Mikey silently walked down the stairs and headed for the door to the shop, but stopped hesitantly. "Make yourself useful and scope out the shop," Donny said.

Dante gulped. He opened the door cautiously. "It's quiet," Mikey said. "Maybe too quiet." Then he smiled. "Always wanted to say that."

Dante slapped him. "Will you quit fooling around?!" He and Mikey entered the shop...and found they were not alone. There were five men wearing black and red outfits with the red dragon's foot symbol on the chest and straw hats. They carried axes, spears, swords and knives.

Mikey and Dante took one look at them and complimented, "Nice hats." One of the men threw a sword at them, but Mikey and Dante ran back to the stairs and shut the door. At that moment, April, Leo, Donny and Splinter were coming down the stairs. "Wrong way, Mikey!" said Donny.

"Wrong way my foot! Poor choice of words. Major ambush down there!"

"We don't have a choice! They're pouring in through the windows upstairs!"

"Hey," Raph called out as he fought off more Foot Soldiers. "What's the story down there?!"

"There's a bunch of mean looking guys downstairs," Dante said.

Donny scoffed and headed for the shop. "'Mean looking'? Duh."

"Wait," Dante called out. "You don't understand!"

Donny charged into the shop, bo staff at the ready. Then he saw the mean looking guys. "Nice hats." One of them threw an axe at him, but Donny dodged it just in time. The axe flew back into its owner's hands like a boomerang before another tossed a spear. Donny gasped and ducked then ran back to the others. "Raph! We got trouble down here!"

"Like I don't got trouble _up here_!"

Splinter, Mikey and Dante joined Donny. Splinter gasped when he saw them. "The Shredder's Elite Guard! They are the deadliest of his warriors! Lethal assassins." He motioned April to stay away.

"Raph," April called out. "The guys ran into something bad in the shop!"

"Hey, I got my hands full up here!"

Splinter ran up to Raph and pushed back the Foot Soldier he was fighting. "Go! Assist your brothers! I will protect Leonardo!"

Raph ran into the shop, joining Donny, Mikey and Dante. When he saw the Foot Ninja Elite, he had one thing to say: "Nice hats."

"Yeah, we thought so too," Mikey said.

"Say what you will about the Foot," said Donny. "But they do not skip out on the headgear."

"So we gonna do this or what?" challenged Raph. He charged at one of the Elite, and kicked him in the gut. Then the Elite countered by grabbing his leg and tossing him into a wall.

Then another Elite kicked Donny into the wall. Meanwhile, Dante locked his tonfas with one of the Elite's axe. Then he gave the Elite a kick to the groin, making him double over in pain. Dante swung the tonfa again, but this time, the Elite caught his arm and twisted it backwards. Dante yelped in pain then gasped when he saw the Elite raise his axe. Thinking fast, he bit the hand holding his arm. The Elite yelled, then let go. Dante used this an opportunity to strike the Elite in the gut with one of his tonfas, knocking the wind out of him.

Meanwhile, Mikey battled an Elite with a trident. The Elite swung the trident until Mikey smacked him with one of his nunchucks. Then he kicked the Elite in the gut, sending him headlong into the the cash register.

Meanwhile, Donny battled the Elite with the spear. The Elite thrusted the spear, missing the turtle and breaking one of the antique pots. "Hey, try not to wreck the shop," Donny scolded. "At least...try not to wreck it too badly!" And he swiped the Elite's legs, sending him flat on his back.

Raph and Mikey found themselves back to back, panting. "Just gotta catch my break," the former said.

"Yeah," the latter said. "Can we like call a timeout?"

Apparently not. One of the Elite swung his sword, making Mikey dodge every one of them. He hid behind a suit of armor, but the Elite sliced it apart and kicked Mikey aside. The turtle got up then gasped when he realized another of the Elite was raising his axe. Donny saw this and tossed the Elite he was fighting into the other. Suddenly, the Elite vanished in a puff of smoke only to reappear again and slash their weapons at the turtles.

Dante got pushed to the stairs where he saw April and Leo about to head out the door...only for a giant hand to grab Leo. It was Hun. "Your friend doesn't look too well," he said with a smirk. "Shall I put him out of his misery?"

"PUT HIM DOWN!" Dante charged at him with the tonfas only for Hun to grab him and lift him off the ground with his free hand. Then there was a loud crunch and Dante watched with horror as his beloved tonfas became nothing but splinters. "No..."

"Foolish little boy." Hun grabbed him by the throat and began to choke him. He laughed at his attempts to break free only to stop when April smashed a pot over his head.

"PUT THEM DOWN," she shouted.

"As you wish!" And Hun tossed the boy and turtle into a metal support beam. Leo groaned loudly. "LEO!" shouted Dante. He tried to reach for him only for Hun to grab him again. "Give it up, little boy." Then he yelled and let Dante go when he bit his hand so hard, he drew blood.

Dante spat the blood out. "Don't call me little, you mountain with hair. And I don't need my tonfas to stop you!"

Hun let out a roar and charged only to get kicked in the groin and then punched in the face, sending him back to the staircase. Dante slammed the door shut. Then he felt a presence. He turned around and rolled out of the way just in time: a Foot Elite swung his swords at him.

Dante joined his brothers to help Leo up. Suddenly, the door to the shop was kicked down. The brothers, April and Splinter gasped when the saw who it was that walked in. "No..." gasped Dante.

"Aw, crud," cursed Raph.

"It's really him!" cried out Mikey. "Like Leo said!"

"This is a bad dream," mumbled Dante. "This is all a bad dream."

The Shredder growled, "You freaks have been a thorn in my side long enough. No one opposes the Shredder. And now I will have revenge for our last encounter!"

"Oh yeah," Dante smirked. "How's that stomach? Did you lose all your food when I made a hole in it?!"

"Do not antagonize him," Splinter shouted.

"Ah, yes. I will pay you back for impaling me," Shredder snarled at Dante. "Say farewell to each other. While you still can."

"Oh, yeah, Mr. Spiky Pants," taunted Mikey. "Well, you're the one who should be saying farewell to...uh...yourself!"

Raph face palmed. "Oh, yeah, that got him," he said sarcastically.

"Hey! I'm under a lot of pressure here!"

"SILENCE!" shouted the Shredder.

"This attack is nothing but a cowardly gambit," shouted Splinter. "Wearing us down by shear numbers! It is not the way of the true warrior!" Shredder glared at him.

"Guys, I say we shred his butt once and for all!"

"I agree with Raph," said Dante. "Though I could use a weapon." Splinter grabbed a pair of kunai from one of the Foot Elite and tossed them to Dante. "Thanks."

"We do this for Leo," said Donny. "Till the end!"

"Which hopefully won't be any time soon, right?" asked Mikey.

Raph tried to kick Shredder, only for Shredder to punch him in the face. Mikey swung his nunchucks at Shredder, but Shredder slashed him and sent him to the ground. Donny swung his bo staff, but Shredder dodged, swiped the staff and kicked him into a metal support beam. Then Splinter and Dante jumped in front of the Shredder. They glared at each other. "Finish them off," the latter ordered the Foot Ninja Elite. "This rat and the boy are mine!"

The Shredder swung Donny's bo staff, but each attack were blocked by the rat's walking stick. Then Splinter kicked him into the stomach, pushing him away. Suddenly, five Foot Soldiers charged at Splinter, but he swung the stick and knocked them all back. The Shredder snuck up behind him...and yelled when he felt a pain in his stomach. He looked down to find Dante stabbing him in the gut with one of his kunai. "I don't like people who attack their opponent when their backs are turned. Stinking!" STAB! "Cowardly!" STAB! "SCUMMY!" STAB! "THING TO DO!" STAB! "NEVER!" STAB!" "DO THAT!" STAB! "AGAIN!"

Suddenly, the Shredder grabbed the boy's arm before he could stab again and took the kunai from his hand. "You don't command me," he growled. "I command you! And I command you to die!" He was about to stab the boy in the stomach, only for Splinter to kick him away.

What happened next paused everything. A motorcycle crashed through the shop's window, sending the Foot Ninja Elite flying. When the rider removed his helmet, the turtles, Dante, Splinter and April smiled. "Now that's what I call crashing a party," he said, putting on a skull-like hockey mask.

"Casey," exclaimed Raph.

Casey twirled his bats as he said, "Though I've never seen a lamer party in my LIFE!" He stuck two Elites when they recovered and tried to kill him. "Where's the band?" Then he saw April. "You okay, babe?"

"Don't call me babe."

The Shredder growled. "Obliterate him!"

Foot Soldiers charged at Casey but the vigilante wasn't phased. "This can't be the band. I was expecting rock and roll! Good thing I got my own drumsticks! Now who wants to be the drums?" He twirled a pair of golf clubs and charged at them, shouting, "Gora-gora-goongala!"

While the brothers, Splinter and Casey fought the Foot Ninja Elite, Hun suddenly burst through the door and saw April and Leo alone. He smiled wickedly. When April saw him right behind her, she stood between him and Leo. "You want him? You'll have to deal with me first!"

"That's the idea," Hun growled. "That boy and his pet green freaks feel great affection for you. Losing you will take the fight out of them." He raised his fist to punch her, but he was blocked by a golf club. "Hun," shouted Casey. "Never! EVER! Threaten her!" Hun swung his fists at him, but Casey dodged them all, then kicked him into a group of Foot Soldiers, bowling them over.

"Casey I...I..." April tried to say thanks, but couldn't.

"Yeah," Casey said, blushing behind his mask. "well, I uh..."

Dante laughed as he bashed more Foot Soldiers. "Aw, look at that, you really do love each other!"

"No we don't," they shouted at once.

"Oh, come on you can't deny it." Suddenly, Dante's smiled vanished and blood started coming out his mouth. He looked down to see a claw stabbing him through his stomach. He turned around to see the Shredder standing behind him. When his family saw this, they gasped with horror. "DANTE!"

"One down," Shredder snarled, tossing the boy's body out the window. "Pity. He was one of my..." He was interrupted when Casey, the turtles and Splinter let out yells of anguish and rage and charged at him. Unfortunately, the Shredder still proved too powerful and he struck them all down. All except Splinter, who continued to strike the Shredder only to have his attacks blocked. "He was just a child," Splinter roared. "And what's worse, he had his back turned, he was unprepared!"

The Shredder grabbed the walking stick and lifted Splinter into the air. "I do whatever it takes to win. Honor is nothing to me."

Suddenly, he was tackled and pinned to the floor by Raph. "You...you...you...YOU MURDERER!" He raised the sai blades in the air to stab the Shredder, only to be pushed aside by another Foot Soldier. Donny grabbed his bo staff and repeatedly struck the Shredder, but he was tossed to the ground. Mikey wrapped one of his nunchucks around the Shredder's throat only to be body slammed into the ground.

Leo's rage had reached a tipping point. His severe beating at the hands of the Foot Elite, his swords being broken and now, witnessing the death of his brother, it was too much. "Leo," April said. "Don't do this!"

"He chased us out of our home," Leo muttered. "He forced us out of our home. He attacked your store. And now...now...Dante..." He let out a roar of anger and charged at the Shredder, tackled him to the ground and began punching him in the face repeatedly. "I hate you! I will never forgive you!" Suddenly, the Shredder slashed him across the chest and kicked him off. He was about to finish him off when Splinter smacked him away with the walking stick.

"You strike a wounded warrior?! YOU HAVE NO HONOR!"

"I fight to win."

(!)

The battle was so noisy, it attracted the NYPD. Upon seeing the fight in the store, the officers witnessing the fight called for backup.

(!)

Outside the store, Dante groaned slightly and slowly came back around at the sound of police sirens. "Ugh...my stomach." He picked himself up, trying to get back into the fight. Then he saw something odd. The Shredder and his Foot Ninjas were retreating! He chuckled slightly. "Guess the guys managed to win."

KABOOM!

Dante's eyes widened when the whole store caught fire in a tremendous explosion. No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no! They'll come out! The've survived worse! They always have! "No...Leo...Donny...Raph...Mikey...Dad...April...Casey..." He suddenly burst out sobbing and let out an anguished yell. He was so distraught, so full of anguish that he didn't hear the sound of footsteps running at him.

"Hey! I got a survivor," shouted the police officer. "Call the paramedics, now!"

"Yes, sir!"

The officer gently picked the boy up and ran away from the burning building. The boy reached for the store. "Leo...bros...dad..."

"Shh, it's all right," the officer said. "You're safe."

"It's all a bad dream," Dante sobbed. "It's all a bad dream. I'm gonna wake up. I'm gonna wake up. Wake me up. Wake me up. Leo? Mikey? Donny? Raph? Dad! Wake me up!" Then he started screaming, startling the officer, " _Somebody, anybody! Please wake me up! Please!_ " The officer could do nothing but hold the kid close as he sobbed loudly.

(!)

Up on the rooftops, two men in black, the ones that had been watching the brothers watched the building as it burnt. One of them pressed a button on his wrist, and an image of the three council men appeared. "We regret to report we are too late," he said to them. "Shredder is victorious. The mutant turtle creatures are...destroyed."

"This is unfortunate," the councilmen said in unison. "Indeed, our enemy is becoming too powerful. We must accelerate our plan. Immediately."

"There is a silver lining. The boy, Dante survived. The authorities are taking him to the hospital."

"This is fortunate, but he alone cannot destroy the Shredder. And you know of his nature."

"Which is precisely why he must be watched over."

"You do have the suppressants?" the council men asked.

"Indeed," the second man in black said, and he held up a vial.

"Good. Then your mission will be to watch over him, monitor his progress. Inform us if anything changes."

The image disappeared. The first man in black sighed sadly. "I shook hands with the one called Leonardo and called him ally. It is a great loss day. A _great_ loss."


	19. Chapter 19

_I am Oroku Saki! I am the Shredder! My revenge is complete. My hated enemies thought they had destroyed me, but I am not so easily destroyed. I was merely biding my time, awaiting the right moment for my ninja forces to strike. And they struck hard. They herded my enemies to me like sheep to the slaughter. And even though allies foolishly came to their aid, my enemies were forced to make a cowardly retreat. But vengeance was mine, nonetheless. At last, the turtles are no more!_

(!)

Two men in black stood before the entrance to a local hospital. "This is where the boy codenamed Dante has been taken after last night," the first said.

"And we will have to monitor him at all times," the second said.

"Indeed. The Shredder cannot find out about his location. It was fortunate that we managed to convince the news crews not to inform the masses of the boy's survival. He must be hidden."

"But he cannot face the Shredder alone. And we know what his true nature is. He will attack the moment he sees us."

The first stuck a hand in his pocket. "The suppressants will keep him under control."

"And how do you suppose we give them to him?" the second asked. "He won't recognize us, nor have we properly met."

The first thought it over. "I do know of a way. A family who aided him during his time of need when the Shredder first attacked. They will help him."

(!)

In his skyscraper lair, Oroku Saki paced the floor as Hun said, "The Foot Clan is back in business, profits are up and the turtles are history. Why are we not celebrating, Master?"

Saki turned to face him. "Where are the bodies?"

"We burned that building to the ground! I think we can safely assume that-"

"We can assume NOTHING!" Saki kicked a torch as he shouted that. "My enemies assumed they had destroyed me and it cost them dearly. I can ill afford to make the same mistake. I require evidence of their demise."

"Scientific proof, perhaps?" Saki cringed in anger at that voice. He turned to see Doctor Stockman enter the room. He looked worse for wear. His legs were replaced with a hovercraft-like wheelchair, his left hand had been replaced by a hook and he was wearing a neck brace. "I did not send for you, Stockman," Saki snarled.

Stockman laughed. "And that was your first mistake."

Hun growled at him, but Saki backed him off and said, "Your arrogance is exceeded only by your inability to learn from your...punishments. What do you want?"

"A simple exchange of goods and services." Stockman pulled out a scanner from his coat pocket. "I can provide you the most sophisticated DNA analysis of Miss O'Neil's destroyed shop. You'll know beyond the shadow of a doubt if the turtles survived or not."

"And in exchange?"

Stockman wheeled over to the display case containing the metal skeleton. "Full access to this fascinating artifact you fished from the East River. A brief glimpse of its technological secrets allowed me to create the Foot Tech Ninjas. Imagine what I might do were I given complete access to it. A win-win proposition, I'd say."

Saki thought it over and said, "Provide me with proof that the accursed turtles are no more and you shall be so rewarded. Fail me, and your next punishment will be your _final_ punishment!"

Stockman rubbed his neck brace then cringed when Hun smirked and cracked his knuckles.

(!)

The doctor looked over the boy called Dante (according to the necklace he wore) that had been brought in last night. No sign of progress whatsoever. Though his wounds and burns were healing, he had not said a word since he was brought in. He didn't move, he didn't speak. Instead, he just stared up at the ceiling with a blank expression.

The doctor sighed and gently stroked his cheek. "I hope you will come out of this," she said softly. Suddenly, two men in black came in. "Who are you?"

"Friends of Dante," the first man said. "We have other friends who like to meet him."

"Who?"

The doctor's question was answered when Zach, Walt, and Mrs. Paulson rushed into the room. "Where is he?!" shouted the mother. When she saw Dante she gasped. "Oh, Dante!"

"What happened to him," said Walt.

"Do you recall that explosion at the Second Time Round?" the doctor said.

"Yes. I was watching the news," Mrs. Paulsen said.

"Well, it seems he's a survivor. He's a lucky boy."

"But why is he not moving?" asked Zach. "Why won't he speak?"

"It seems the trauma has put him in a comatose state. There's no telling how long he could be like this." The doctor was about to leave until she turned and said, "Whatever you have to say to him, make it quick. Visiting hours are almost over." And with that she left.

"We'll leave you alone with Dante," the men in black said to the Paulsens. "Be sure to give him the medicine we handed to you." And they left too.

Zach looked over the boy in the hospital bed. "I really hope you pull through."

Mrs. Paulsen sighed, leaving the boy's side. "Come on, let's go back to the car."

And then, a monotonous voice said, "...car...Donny built a car once. A remote control one."

Everyone turned around to look Dante with a shocked expression. "He talked," Mrs. Paulsen exclaimed. "I gotta go get the doctor!" She ran out the room to get someone.

"What is he talking about? Donny? A remote control car?"

"Shh," shushed Zach. "This is getting good!"

"Donny was just ten years old when he built a remote control car. Unfortunately, while he was test driving it, he drove it into the sewer canal during a flood season. There was all kinds of debris clogging up the tunnel and the sewers were overflowing with the heavy rains we just had. But he wasn't paying attention to that. He just wanted his car back. That's when he got caught in the current and his leg got stuck in the debris. He would have drowned if Leo hadn't saved him. Then Donny asked, 'What? You didn't get the car?' Leo smacked him for that." Then he went silent.

"Whoa," Zach said. "That was an amazing story."

Suddenly, Mrs. Paulsen came in with the doctor. When she looked at Dante, he was not moving and speaking. "He's not doing anything," the doctor said.

"But he was just a moment ago," the mother said.

"Hmm. Was there anything that could have triggered this?"

Walt remembered, "When mom said the word, car, he started speaking. Maybe that's the trigger? Let's see. Car." Nothing happened. "Uh...truck?" Nothing. "Motorcycle?"

"Nothing's happening," the doctor said.

"Pfft. Obviously."

"Let's try some other word. Something funny, perhaps?" asked Zach.

"Funny..." Everyone turned to face Dante upon hearing him speak again. "Mikey was always the funny one. He especially loved it when the focus of the laughter was him. It was annoying at times. It even proved to be a distraction during training, like when he bothered Leo with his loud music, poured glue on Donny's bo staff and replaced Raph's sai blades with rubber chickens." He chuckled. "I had to save his life from the beating he would have received."

Everyone looked at each other, confused as to what the shell he was talking about.

"There was one time where his gags proved to be no distraction at all. He was ten years old. It was just after Splinter adopted me. I can still remember watching it all from my crib. Leo was trying to perfect his katas when Mikey asked him if he'd seen his Game Guy anywhere. When he got no response, Mikey did everything he could to get a reaction from him." Dante chuckled again. "I forgot how much he hates to be ignored.

"Mikey tried everything. He stuck his tongue out at Leo, popped a balloon, made him wear Groucho Marx glasses, burped onion breath in his face; nothing. So then he decided if he couldn't make him laugh, maybe he should just make him say 'Ow!' Big mistake. Leo kicked Mikey and pinned him to the floor." He chuckled again. "I was laughing for hours." Then he resumed his blank expression again.

The Paulsens and the doctor just looked at each other. "He must be reliving his memories of the past. He must be using it as a coping mechanism."

"But why?" asked Zach. "Why is he stuck in these memories?"

"The explosion traumatized him so much, he's stuck in happier memories to hide from his fears."

"So he's acting like a coward," Walt scoffed. "Running away from his fears."

"Walt!" gasped Mrs. Paulsen.

"Dude," Zach said, angry at his brother. "How could you say that?!"

"Because, I think all these stories are all a load of garbage! For all we know, he started the fire and is making up stories to hide the fact that he's an arsonist!"

"I didn't..." Dante sat up and glared at Walt. "I didn't..." He staggered to his feet and lunged for the teenager only to be held back by the doctor. "My brothers, my father, my friends! They all burned in that fire! I didn't do it! HE did it! He..." He broke down sobbing again. "Oh, Raph..." He sat back down in the bed and resumed his emotionless state. "The others always said I was like Raph. We were both hot headed, always rushing into things without realizing the danger..." Tears ran down his face as he said, "As a child, Raph always figured he would be top turtle. He thought himself the strongest, the bravest."

"Oh great," Walt scoffed. "Another story. OW!" His mother slapped him.

"Shh!"

Dante continued as if nothing happened, "When I was five, Raph told me a story in private. He didn't want anyone to hear him tell a mushy story, made them think that he was soft. He told me how he and Leo once played Follow The Leader in an abandoned sewer tunnel. Leo didn't want to since Dad forbid it, but Raph egged him on anyway. That was when they found out the urban legend of alligators living in the sewer was true. As usual, Raph did things his own way and tried to wrestle it. It didn't go well. The gator would have eaten Raph had Leo not pressed his finger on the alligator's pressure points. After that, they ran back home. They never told this story to anyone, not even Dad." And just like that, he resumed his silent state.

"This Raph sound like you, Walt," Mrs. Paulsen said. "Always trying to be the tough guy." She ruffled his hair, only for Walt to push her away.

"I'm not _trying_ to be. I _am_."

(!)

At the shell of what was once the Second Time Around, Doctor Stockman and an army of Mousers combed the area looking for any traces of human or turtle DNA. No such luck though. There was not even a body to be found. Stockman was panicking. "Nothing! I've run every search pattern, every type of analysis, but there's no conclusive evidence that anyone, human or turtle, perished in this blaze! But I...I can't go back to Shredder with nothing. I...huh?" A Mouser approached him and wagged its tail, holding a piece of red cloth in its mouth.

Doctor Stockman took the cloth and looked it over. Then he smiled and laughed. "If I can't _find_ any evidence..." He bit into the cloth and poked two holes in it, making it look like the masks the turtles wear. "...then I'll just have to _make_ some evidence."

(!)

"This Leo sounds really brave," Zach said.

"Actually, believe it or not," Dante said. "There was a time Leo was petrified with fear. Dad told me this story when I was afraid of the dark, the very thing that gave the ninja his power. Leo was five years old at the time. He and Dad were scavenging for food and supplies. Dad wanted to take him to the upper parts of the sewers to search for more. He climbed up the ladder, but stopped halfway when he realized Leo wasn't following. He urged him on, but Leo only made it part way before he looked down and refused to climb up. Dad had to help him after that.

"That was when Dad realized Leo had an irrational and paralyzing fear of heights. In the weeks that followed, he closely monitored Leo to help him overcome his fear. He blindfolded him and had him balance on bamboo poles, adding taller poles as he progressed. But when he ordered Leo to take off the blindfold, his fears overwhelmed him again. Dad wondered if he would ever overcome his fears, but he was not giving up.

"One day, while taking him through the sewer, he led Leo to a chamber. They had to climb up a pipe to get across, but Leo opted to take the long way, something that would take hours. Suddenly, the pipe broke and Dad found himself dangling by his robe on the pipe. That's when a new fear built up in Leo: the thought of losing Dad. He couldn't let that happen. He rushed over to him and pulled him to safety. That's when Dad revealed he put himself in danger, knowing that Leo would forget his fear of heights immediately and come to rescue him."

Dante slowly began to sit up. "They're probably terrified of what's happened. Maybe even broken. If only I had a way to call them." Then his eyes widened and he slapped himself. "Oh, stupid! I forgot all about my Shell Cell! Where is it? My phone?" he asked the doctor.

"Uh, you mean that little shell thing? It's here." She pointed to the bedside table. Sure enough, there was the phone. Dante reached for it and then he looked at the Paulsens as if realizing for the first time they were here. "Uh, hello. What are you guys doing here?"

"We were told to come here," Zach said.

"To give you your medicine." Mrs. Paulsen handed him a vial of blue pills.

That was when Dante realized with horror, "Uh, how long were you guys here?"

"The whole time," Walt said.

Dante grabbed the sides of his head in horror. "Oh, no!"

"Uh, I think you've got this under control," the doctor said. "I'll just leave you alone." And she left.

"Hey," Zach said. "Who were those people you were talking about? Leo, Donny, Raph and Mikey?"

Dante sighed. Then he said, "Well, might as well share the full story. Right after I make a phone call. I just hope Donny hasn't changed the number." He dialed the number on the Shell Cell and waited. One ring. Two rings. Three rings. Then he heard a voice on the other end. "Hello?"

Dante was close to tears at this point. "Hi, Donny."

(!)

Saki looked at the piece of cloth Doctor Stockman handed to him. " _This_ is your conclusive proof?" he said, clearly not impressed.

"That is merely a souvenir of your victory. Consider it a gift." Doctor Stockman reached into his coat and held up his scanner. " _This_ is my conclusive proof. Telltale traces of mutated DNA. Order: Colonia. Family: Emydidae. Or, in layman's terms..."

"Turtle," Saki finished.

"Someone's been doing his homework. No doubt one as intelligent as you would recognize that the sheer amount of DNA evidence recovered can only lead to one conclusion."

"The turtles perished in the blaze."

Doctor Stockman smirked at the pleased tone in Saki's voice and the wicked smile on his face. "So _that's_ what you look like when you are pleased. I always wondered." Then he wheeled over to the display case containing the metal skeleton. "Now, about my reward."

Saki nodded. "I will have a team of Foot Technicians deliver it to your lab in the morning. Now, if you will excuse me, I have other pressing matters to attend to."

"Of course, Master." When Saki finally left the room, Doctor Stockman smiled. "Fool! You've let your guard down the moment you believed your enemies vanquished. Soon, the technological secrets locked within this artifact will give me power beyond reckoning! And that's when Baxter Stockman stops taking punishment and starts dishing it out!" He laughed maniacally, unaware that a woman in a Foot Technician's lab coat was watching him.

"Laugh while you can, Baxter," she whispered. "But my project came this close to killing the enemies of Master Saki, and soon, it will prove I am the superior scientist, not you." After that, she left the room, leaving the doctor to his mad thoughts.


	20. Chapter 20

_It is said that a terrible monster roams these woods. A creature from a forgotten age that brings terror and fear in the dark of night. Yes, there's a terrible monster roaming these woods. And it's me! Booga booga!_

"MIKEY?!"

(!)

Dante groaned as he sat up in his bed. If it weren't for the calendar on the wall, he would not have known he was in here for 3 months now. He thought back to what happened so far. He survived a gas explosion and a stomach injury caused by the Shredder (though no one, not even the Paulsens, know that) and he had lost his family. Fortunately, he was still in contact with them thanks to his shell cell. When he dialed the number and spoke to Donny, he swore he heard people crying in the background. Though he wasn't sure if it was Mikey or April. Maybe both.

He learned that his family was hiding in Casey Jones' grandpa's barn house. Leo had been recovering from his injuries, but his swords were broken so he will have to build a new pair. Dante was saddened to hear that his swords, which he had since childhood, were gone forever, but he was glad he was okay. And then he had drop the bombshell: he just told the Paulsens of their existence. Dante winced as he recalled what Master Splinter shouted at him on the other end of the Shell Cell.

(!)

"You did what?!"

"Hey, it wasn't my fault entirely! I was under heavy medication and was hallucinating the whole time! I didn't know anyone was listening!"

Splinter sighed. "It doesn't matter. What matters is they're someone you can trust."

Dante nodded. "So, what do we do?"

"Until Leonardo is fully healed and he crafts a new pair of swords, we must stay where we are."

"Then, when will we counterattack against the Shredder?"

"I do not know. Until we come up with a plan, stay put. And do not do anything rash!"

"Believe me, I will never do that."

(!)

Dante sighed. No word from them yet. Still, that didn't mean he should be lying around. He still had to keep up with his training. Grunting, he slid off the bed and prepared to do some pushups, ignoring the pain in his sides. "Uh, what are you doing?" Dante gasped and turned. There were Zach and Walt.

"What are you guys doing here?"

"We're here to give you your medicine," Walt said. He handed him a bottle of blue pills.

"I still don't know why I need to take these," Dante said as he popped some of them into his mouth.

"It's the doctors orders."

"Okay." He grunted as he continued to do his pushups.

"So," Zach said. "Have you any more stories about your brothers and father?"

"None that I can think of right now."

"Oh, come on! It's got to be fun! I mean, when's the last time anyone had Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles for brothers? It would be so cool to be a ninja."

"No, it's not cool." Dante groaned and grabbed his side. "Oh, darn it. I gotta stop now." He slowly got up, ignoring the pain. "Ah. Now, Zach, being a ninja is not fun and games. Our whole life is structured around stealth and discipline. You would never be able to reach where I am now in an instant."

"I know that. Maybe you could train me?"

"No," Walt said. "You're not being a ninja."

"Aw, Walt."

"No, he's right. It's too dangerous." Zach stuck his tongue out at Dante. "Don't look at me like that." He turned his attention to the TV. "Who's that?" he asked, pointing to the woman on the TV. She was a buff Australian woman with short dark hair and carrying a very advanced rifle. "Welcome adventure seekers," she said. "to another action packed episode of...The Monster Hunter!"

"Oh, that's Abigail Finn," Walt said. "Some crackpot lady who goes around the world looking for monsters. Bigfoot, Nessie, Yeti, the Jersey Devil, all that made up crap. But she's never caught one."

"Hey," Zach said. "None of that is crap! Monsters are real!"

"No they're not. I've yet to see one. And don't say crap in front of your mother."

"I just told you the story of how four baby turtles and an old rat mutated into becoming ninja masters," Dante said. "And you don't believe in monsters?"

"I still think you just made that up."

Dante was about to retort when he saw a familiar face walk up to Dr. Finn and tell her to leave. Dante raised an eyebrow. "What's Casey Jones doing on that show?"

"Casey Jones?" Walt said. "That's the vigilante in the hockey mask?"

"Yeah."

The three of them watched as Dr. Finn and Casey argued about whether or not a monster called the Green Man was in the woods. Then she ordered her assistant, Parker to show them a VHS tape. "This footage," she said. "Was captured in the forest behind your house by one of your neighbors just this morning. What do you have to say now, bub?" The video showed a familiar ninja turtle in an orange mask being chased off by a dog.

Dante's eyes widened with horror. "MIKEY?!"

"Mikey?" Walt questioned. "Isn't he one of your made up ninja turtle friends?"

"Oh, yeah. That's him. What the shell is he thinking?!" He reached for the phone and rapidly dialed the phone number. "Come on, come on, some one pick up the damn phone!"

A voice was heard on the other line. "Hello?"

"April! Oh, thank god. Did you see that tape?"

"Yeah, and so did a good portion of America by now. We're lucky it's not in good quality. You can barely see Mikey's features so it doesn't look so convincing."

"It doesn't matter," Dante said, frantically. "That screwball Dr. Finn caught footage of one of us and from the way she sounded, she's convinced this will be the first monster she bags!"

"It gets worse," April said. "Donny says that if she can't find any monsters in the woods, she'll start looking for some in the neighborhood's barns, including Casey's."

"Then you have to get that tape! We can't let her break into the barn house!" Dante growled in frustration. "If only I wasn't stuck in this hospital room, so...helpless! I could have snuck in there to steal that tape."

"It's a good thing you're not. This woman is so crazy and prepared with all sorts of surveillance equipment, she would have spotted you a mile away."

"And then what? She hunts monsters, not little kids. I hope."

"Donny and Mikey are already gone to her truck to get the tape. We'll call back if something happens."

"Okay. See you." He hung up. Then he groaned and plopped into a chair. "Mikey, of all the stupid, lamebrain, idiotic..."

"Uh..."

Dante realized he had forgotten about the Paulsen brothers. "Oh. How much did you hear?"

"Everything," Walt said.

"What am I going to do? I have no idea where the farm house they're staying at is and I have no idea how long I have to stay in this hospital! I've never felt so useless!"

"Maybe it's for the best," said Walt. "I mean, knowing how crazy Dr. Finn would be, you would stand no chance against her."

"Please. I've taken down Hun of the Purple Dragons...with the help of my brothers and Casey Jones of course."

"Hey, uh..." said Zach. "Since you can't really do much of anything..." He froze for a minute when Dante glared at him. "...uh, would you like to tell me another one of your stories?"

Dante thought for a minute. Then smiled. "Alright. How about I tell you how my brothers, Casey and I saved a good friend of Casey's who didn't know what she was getting into. Her name was Angel. And she wanted to be a Purple Dragon..."

(!)

"...after that, we took her back to her grandma's. I wanted so bad to get a piece of the pie she made for Angel and Casey. But I guess my fear of strangers got the best of me. Besides, she was Angel and Casey's family first." Zach listened to the whole story with a blank look on his face. "Now do you see why being a ninja is not a game? These people will kill you." Zach nodded. But then he smiled.

"But that's not going to stop me from trying."

"I will," said Walt. "And so will mom."

"Aw, Walt."

"Hey, just out of curiosity," Dante said. "You're not telling anyone about these stories, are you?"

"No," Zach said. "Who would believe me anyway? About four giant turtles and a rat living in the sewers?"

"A lot of people. Trust me. Did you?"

"No! Scout's honor!"

Dante turned to Walt. "I didn't say anything either. I still find it hard to believe."

"That might be a good thing." Suddenly, the Shell Cell rang. Dante reached for it and answered. "Hello?"

"Bad news," said Mikey on the other line. "Dr. Finn rigged her truck. She's got booby traps all over and in it. We didn't get the tape. That woman is crazy! It's like she's expecting a monster to appear in her truck!"

"Well...you are one."

"Not funny. She's not going away now."

"I know. And it will only be a matter of time before she decides to investigate the barn house. She's not going to stop until she finds this Green Man."

"Hey," said Mikey. "That gives me an idea!"

"What idea?"

"She wants the Green Man so much, why don't we give it to her?"

Dante's eyes widened. He knew exactly what Mikey had in mind. "Oh, shell no! Mikey, don't you even think about-"

"Gotta go. I'll explain everything to Donny and Casey."

"Mikey, don't - !" He hung up. Dante groaned. "Darn it, Mikey!"

"What's wrong?" asked Zach.

"It's just Mikey being stupid again."

"So...you want to tell another story?"

Dante plopped onto the bed and groaned. "Fine."

(!)

"They're still there on that garbage island. I can take you there someday."

"That would be cool," said Zach, having finished listening to the story of the Garbage Man. "I wonder what happened to him though."

Dante shook his head. "I honestly don't know."

Suddenly, Dr. Finn appeared on the TV. She was in front of her truck, surrounded by TV reporters. Dante's eyes widened. "Oh, no!"

"Today, I, Dr. Abigail Finn, have captured a creature so rare, it was believed to be only a myth! Behold, the greatest scientific discovery of all time!" She opened the door to the back of the truck. "I give you the legendary Green Man!"

"You, help!" shouted the Green Man in a familiar voice. "Save me from this crazy lady!" It was Casey Jones, covered in moss, leaves and branches. When Dr. Finn and the reporters saw this, the former's face turned into shock and horror while the latter started laughing. "No!" shrieked the doctor. "How can this be?! My monster! My reputation! My network television deal!"

"You're the monster, lady!" Casey shouted as he was set free. "She chased me through the woods all night long! She's loony, I tell ya! She's the one who should be locked up!"

Dante switched off the TV. "Welp, looks like Dr. Finn's been cancelled." He reached for the phone and dialed Donny's number. "Hello, Donny? Was that Mikey's idea to have Casey Jones as the monster?"

"Well," Donny said on the other end. "Not exactly. We had to do some tweaking. But wait till you see the photos I captured!"

"Photos?" Dante's phone blipped, indicating a photo had been sent to him. When he looked at them, he was stunned. "Donny...is this...?"

"Turns out there was a Green Man! Well, Green Woman. And now that Dr. Finn's reputation is ruined, she and her babies will live in the woods in peace."

Dante sighed. "That's good."

"There's another thing. Leo's healed fully and his new swords are ready."

Dante smiled with triumph. "Then we're almost ready. Once I'm fully healed, we can plan our counterattack against the Shredder."

Zach tilted his head. "What's the Shredder?"


	21. Chapter 21

_My name is Raphael. Someone once said, "The only difference between men and boys is the size of their toys." Well if that's true, then I think I just became a man. Or at least an Adult Mutant Ninja Turtle. This particular playroom happens to belong to our sworn enemy, Oroku Saki a.k.a. the Shredder._

 _The dudes with the disappearing act, they're called Foot Tech Ninjas—quick to act, tough to beat. We've been fighting our way up, floor by floor, to the top of Shredder's skyscraper of evil. It's kind of like a video game with lots of different levels, only there ain't no earning extra lives in this game._

(!)

Dante paced around in the sewer lair's floor, anxious. He recalled the last thing he said to the Paulsens.

(!)

"Dante?" The boy was in a rush to leave, he had forgotten Zach and Walt were in the room with him. "I'm going," he said.

"But," Walt said. "I don't think you're fully healed yet."

"I'm healed enough."

"But," Zach tried to say, only to be pushed aside by Dante. "I'm going back home," he said. "Nothing's going to stop me." He paused. "Thanks for taking care of me these past 3 months." He ruffled Zach's hair. "And who knows, I might just bring more stories to tell."

Walt grumbled, "You're welcome."

And just like that, Dante left the hospital.

(!)

Dante plopped onto the couch, exhausted. Suddenly, the door to the lair opened and out stepped the family friends he had been separated from for days. "Welcome home guys," Donny said.

"Just like we left it," said Leo.

"Cool," said Raph.

"Home sweet home!" exclaimed Mikey.

"Hello, guys," Dante said bitterly. The turtles, Splinter, Casey and April froze. They found Dante standing by the TVs, glaring at them. Then the glare turned into a sad frown, then tears started streaming down his face as he ran to the turtles and gave them a group hug. "Guys!" He sobbed. "I honestly thought you died! I was so scared! So scared!"

The turtles returned the hug and Splinter, April and Casey joined in. "It's all right," Leo said softly. "We're here. We're all safe."

"Yes," Splinter said. "We are home."

The group undid the hug. Then Donny started laughing. "And you were worried the Foot would find this place, Mikey."

"Heck yeah!" Mikey said as he ran to the kitchen and pulled out a bag of chips from a cabinet. "I couldn't bear the thought of them hurting my babies!" He cuddled the bags and kissed them. "Hello, babies. Daddy missed you. Yes, he did!" Then he grabbed a cart of milk and started guzzling it down.

"Uh..." said Casey. "Wouldn't that milk be about...three months old?"

Mikey's eyes bugged out and he started vomiting and spitting out the milk. "Blech! Ugh! That would explain the chunks!"

"I don't get it," Raph said as he punched his punching bag. "Last time, the sewers were crawling with Foot goons searching for us! Why would Shredder just send them all home?"

"Isn't it obvious?" asked Dante. "He clearly thinks we're dead. Otherwise, it wouldn't have been easy for me to be here yesterday." Then he smirked. "In fact, being dead is the best thing that could happen to us."

"Yeah," said Leo. "That might give us the element of surprise."

"Are you thinking what I think you're thinking?" asked Mikey.

"I think he's thinking what I think he's thinking," said Donny, typing away at his keyboard.

"If he's thinking what I'm thinking," Raph said. "Then I'm thinking we shouldn't just be thinking. What do you think?" he asked Casey.

"Uh..."

"Shredder believes us vanquished in the explosion at Miss O'Neil's," explained Splinter. "Thus leaving our enemy vulnerable to a surprise attack."

"Ah."

"Okay," said Leo. "If we're going to do this, we need to find out everything we can about the Foot headquarters."

"I don't know if I can hack into that system," Donny said as he worked away on his computer. "It was designed by Doctor Baxter Stockman himself."

"Too bad you don't know anybody who used to work with Stockman," April said with a smile.

Donny nodded, knowing what she meant. He removed himself from the seat, and April took his place.

(!)

"Remember, my sons," Splinter said as Raph and Leo trained. "The battle you face today will be most arduous. You must go in prepared."

"I'm prepared," Raph said as he did three back flips. "To kick some shell!"

"There you go again," Dante said. "Always rushing into things without a plan."

"I believe the time has come," Splinter said, turning to face the sword and glove the boys stole from the East River. "To return the Shredder's sword to its former owner."

Dante was stunned. "You guys left that thing here?!"

"We didn't have much of a choice, we were in a rush to get to April's," Donny called out. "And besides, the security hid the lair so well, no one would ever find it, remember?"

"Oh. Right."

"Now you're talking, sensei," Raph said...as he stupidly grabbed the sword! It gave him a shock and sent him flying.

"Forget something?" Leo said with a snicker.

"Uh...maybe you should have the honor of carrying the sword, bro," Raph said as he handed him the sword's glove. "After all, you're the sword guy."

Leo took the glove from him. Then he looked at the sword, a look of hesitance on his face. "Leo?" asked Dante.

"Are you all right, my son?" asked Splinter, putting a shoulder on Leo's shoulder.

"I...I was just remembering the last time I tangled with Shredder's Elite Ninja. I...I, I don't want to let my brothers down."

"You must look within and find a strength that is yours and yours alone. You will not let them down. I feel it in my heart."

(!)

While the boys trained, Dante returned to the main chamber after a brief trip to the bathroom. Suddenly, he felt a sharp pain in his side. "Damn it," he whispered. "Maybe I should have stayed at the hospital a little while longer." No. He had to endure it. And he could tell nobody about this.

(!)

"We're in!" Donny called out once April was finished hacking. "We're in!"

"We had to use three different dictionary attack programs to attack the encryption algorithm," April said.

"Then," said Donny. "It was just a simple matter of creating a dummy account and installing a remote access Trojan horse." He and April high fived.

"Thrilling," Mikey said sarcastically.

"Well, that's one thing we can agree on," Dante said. "It's nerd talk in stereo."

"But can you get us inside?" asked Leo.

"Never mind that," said Raph, itching for a fight. "Can you get us to Shredder?"

"Getting inside is easy," said April as she displayed an image of the Shredder's skyscraper. "Getting to Shredder," she added, pointing to the penthouse. "Difficult, but doable."

"What about the floors in between the skyscraper's parking garage and the penthouse?" asked Dante.

"Bring it on," Raph said.

"I knew you were going to say that," Dante chuckled. "Anyway, April can coordinate the computer systems from this end."

"Great," said Donny. "Casey, you stay here and protect April just in case."

"We're gonna be a five turtle wrecking crew!"

"Six," said Splinter.

"Wait," said Leo. "Before we do this..." He reached into his belt and handed something to Dante. The boy gasped when he saw what it was. A pair of black tonfas. "Donny made these. They're made out of polypropylene. Virtually indestructible."

Dante felt tears in his eyes as he took the tonfas. "Guys...I...thank you. Thank you so much."

(!)

At the Foot Clan's skyscraper penthouse, Oroku Saki sipped his tea as Hun, accompanied by a woman in a Foot Science Division suit, approached and bowed before him. "Lord Saki," the woman said. "You wished to see me?"

"It seems your Foot Sleeper project hasn't been a total failure, Doctor Xavier. One of your children came close to killing my enemies in spite of the fact he attacked me."

"And befriended new enemies as well," she said.

"Enemies that are no more," Saki reminded her. Oh, if only he knew.

"Also, need I remind you that the boy's program makes him forget you are his master until I press the button." Stockman glared at her, but she continued as if nothing happened, "And besides, the boy is still alive. My systems would have warned me if he or any of the others perished."

"And yet you failed to find him."

"I know he'll be coming here. He will want revenge for what had happened to his family."

"And yet, my Foot Ninja found nothing of him for three months."

No sooner than he said that, there was a loud explosion. "Perimeter alarm," exclaimed Hun.

"Find out what it is and take care of it!" barked Saki. Hun nodded and ran to find out what attacked the garage.

(!)

Meanwhile, down in the basement just above the garage, the boys and Splinter walked out of a pipe and smirked. "Nice remote control work, Slick," Raph complimented Donny.

"And they say hours and hours of video games are bad for you," laughed Mikey.

"Poor Battle Shell," sighed Donny sadly. "I really loved that oversized gadget-laden gas guzzler."

"And I'm sure the next one you'll build you'll love just as much," said Leo, putting a hand on his shoulder. "But right now, let's stick to the plan."

"April," Donny said in his ear bud. "Stage one complete."

"Roger that, Don," April said on the other end. "Uploading worm program now."

"Great," said Dante. "Now the Shredder's communications are going to be down for a while. Although we don't know how long."

"Which is why we must be quick," said Leo.

(!)

Back in the penthouse, Saki yelled into his communicator, "Hun, report!"

"Sir! The truck was a decoy!"

"WHAT?!"

"There's something else you should know," Hun continued. "I've seen this truck before. It belongs to the turtles!"

"The turtles," gasped Saki. "ALIVE?! But, Stockman assured me that they were..." His eyes widened. He growled with hate, "Stockman."

"Sounds like someone played you for a fool," Doctor Xavier said.

"SILENCE!" Saki then switched coms to Doctor Stockman. "Stockman, report to me at once!" Silence. "Stockman? _Stockman!_ _**STOCKMAN!**_ " Stockman cut him off. He switched back to Hun. "Hun, search the building, put all ninja on full alert! And find Stockman." Suddenly, he got cut off again. "WHAT IS THIS?!"

Doctor Xavier smirked. "Looks like the turtles cut off all communications."

(!)

In one of the lower floor halls, Donny was trying to hack into a door. "Foot coms are down," said April on the other end. "What's next?"

"April," said Donny. "I'm having trouble getting in. Can you dig up an access code?"

"Yeah, but it's gonna be tricky. They change the codes hourly."

"Allow me," said Raph. He took a couple steps back, then charged at the door, ramming it down it his foot. "Noisy," said Mikey. "But effective."

The room the boys and Splinter entered was the communications room. And there were dozens of Foot Ninja waiting for them. "Man," said Mikey. "Now that's a lot of ninjas."

"Eh," Dante shrugged his shoulders. "We can take them."

"So," asked Mikey. "We doing this with banter or without?"

"Definitely without."

Leo was attacked by two ninjas. First, he blocked them with his swords, then kicked them away.

Donny blocked one ninja with his staff, then smacked the other with it.

Raph was locking blades with two other ninjas until he smacked them with his sai's handles. Then another tried to swing his staff at him, but Raph grabbed it and tossed him into another ninja.

Mikey blocked the chained mallets of three more ninjas with his nunchucks then jumped away from another. He taunted them, only to get a chain wrapped around his leg. "Uh oh." The ninja gave him a tug and he fell off the table he was perched on. "Hold, on brother," Dante called out when he saw the ninjas were pinning him down. "Turtle pile!" He jumped into the air and tackled one ninja while Mikey smacked the other two away.

Four ninjas surrounded Master Splinter. They didn't even get the chance to use their weapons; he smacked and kicked and punched until they were all down on the ground.

"Donny," Leo called out as he fought more ninjas. "Do your thing."

Donny leaped over another group of ninjas and sat down at the communications hub. "April," he said in his earpiece. "I'm hooking up. Prepare to download remote access codes."

"Creating synergistic interface...now!"

Suddenly, a ninja was tossed into a computer and smashed into it. Donny frowned at Mikey and said, "Do you mind? I'm working here."

"Sorry." Mikey kicked a chair to a foot ninja fighting Raph, making him sit down. "Butt kicking express coming through!" Raph kicked the chair, making it crash into a foot ninja fighting Leo. Next, Splinter hopped onto the chair and rode it as he smacked two more ninjas with his walking stick before hopping off.

"Well," said Raph. "That was refreshing."

"No doubt more will be on the way."

"April," Donny said to his earpiece. "We need another way out."

"Main ventilation shaft," she said on the other end. "Duct is located on the northwest corridor."

"Is this it?" Dante asked, kicking a nearby vent.

"Yep," said Donny.

(!)

After crawling around in the air shafts, the boys and Splinter popped out of the vent and into another room with strange looking vehicles. There was a motorcycle with no wheels but strange disks, a tank with multiple cannons, various pistols and rifles that looked like they were made in a science fiction movie and knives that had lasers for blades. Donny was practically drooling at the sight. "It's like I've died and gone to techno geek heaven!"

Raph was agreeing with him for once. "Whoa. A turtle could kick some serious butt with this stuff."

Mikey picked up one of the guns. "What do you think this one does?" It blasted him with a jet of dust. He coughed as Leo pulled him away and said, "That answer your question, lame brain?"

Splinter said, "Come my sons, we must keep on the move."

The boys and Splinter walked across the room, heading for a door on the other end of the room. Suddenly, Splinter stopped. "Wait."

"What's wrong, dad?" asked Dante.

The rat sniffed. "I sense a presence."

The boys looked around. Nothing. "Nobody here but us turtles," said Mikey.

"Shh!" hissed Dante. "Do you hear that?"

"Hear what?" asked Leo.

Dante slowly reached for his tonfas. "Footsteps. Silent footsteps. Right behind us!" He smacked at the air behind him, but the tonfas collided with something solid and it made a grunt. "Foot Tech Ninjas!" he said.

As soon as he said that, the turtles and Splinter found themselves being attacked by the invisible ninjas. "Don't worry guys," Donny said. "I came prepared for these creeps." He reached into his bag to pull out the heat seeking goggles, but they were punched out of his hands.

Meanwhile, Dante struggled to keep up with the invisible ninja he was currently fighting. He swung left, he got kicked on the right. He kicked to the right, a fist collided with his face. "Grrr," he snarled. "Stand still!" He grabbed a handful of dust and threw it behind him. The outline of an arm could be seen as soon as he did that. "Gotcha." And he yelled as he kicked the ninja between the legs and smacked his head with the tonfas. Dante smirked only to be punched in the back of the head by an unseen fist.

Meanwhile, Leo and Raph regrouped. "They're toying with us," Leo growled.

"Yeah," said Raph, his eyes on the motorcycle. "Then it's time to use some toys on them!" He hopped on it and pressed a few buttons. In a second, he was hovering in the air. "Hang on, I got your back!" He pressed another button and a laser fired out of it. It fired at a random spot of air, and in a second, the outlines of the invisible ninjas were seen.

"Way to go, Raph," Donny exclaimed. "The laser's messing up their cloaking controls!"

Suddenly, Raph lost control of the bike and started spinning around. Worse still, the laser was still active and was destroying everything.

"Hey, watch where you're pointing that thing," Dante shouted.

"I only see two," Splinter said. "Where is the third ninja?" Suddenly, the tank came alive and started rolling toward them. Their eyes widened. "There's your answer," Dante squeaked.

"Time to get the shell outta here," Raph shouted. He jumped off the bike just in time before the missile the tank fired hit the bike's engine. The out of control vehicle flew up to the ceiling and smashed into it, making a huge hole.

(!)

In the penthouse, Saki and Dr. Xavier could feel the whole room start to shake as though they were hit by an earthquake. "What is happening?!" shouted Saki. "Stockman! Hun! SOMEONE REPORT!"

"I believe it's time to call in all the Foot Sleepers to protect their master."

"Do whatever it takes!" snapped Saki as he put on his armor. "Bring. Me. The. Turtles'. HEADS!"

Showing no fear, Doctor Xavier nodded. Then she reached into her pocket and pulled out a button.

(!)

"I always thought this room could use a skylight," Mikey joked. The third Foot Tech Ninja kicked him in the face. "Hold on Mikey," Donny called out. "I came prepared!" He tossed a shuriken at the ninja's camouflage button on his chest and short circuited the device, revealing the ninja. Dante slammed his tonfas into the ninja's chest, knocking him out cold. "Nice one, Donny," he said. "What was that?"

"Electric counter shock shuriken. Instant short circuit."

"Quick, Don," shouted out Leo, currently fighting another Foot Tech Ninja. "Before he-" The ninja tossed Leo into a shelf and it collapsed on him. "LEO!" screamed Dante. Anger fueled his mind now and he charged at the ninja...only for it to disappear. "Stop with the vanishing act you coward!" A punch to the solar plexis knocked the air out of him and he fell to his knees.

"Hang on, bros," shouted Raph. "We'll get you out!"

But the turtles and Splinter stopped when they saw the tank heading for him. Then they quickly ran to Leo and Dante. First Splinter pulled Dante to safety while Donny, Mikey and Raph pulled all the rubble off Leo. "Guys, take cover!" he shouted.

"And leave you behind?" said Raph. "No way!"

The tank got closer. Finally, Splinter leaped into the tank's cockpit and reached for the stop button only to be held back by the Foot Tech Ninja piloting it. They two of them struggled until finally, Splinter pushed the ninja out and pressed the stop button. Finally, Leo was free. "Free at last," he said.

Suddenly, the pilot reutrned and smacked Splinter out of the cockpit and resumed control. "Whoa," Mikey gasped. "Not with the Invisible Ninjas in the house!"

The boys jumped out of the tanks way again, only for another barrage of invisible punches and kicks to attack them. "This is ridiculous," Dante shouted as he felt another kick in his back.

"Yo, Donny," called out Raph. "Can't you shock them?"

"Not if I can't see them!"

"I'll take care of that," Leo said, grabbing a pair of fire extinguishers. "Raph, think fast!" He tossed them over to him who stabbed with his sai blades, releasing the white foam all over the place, revealing the Foot Tech Ninjas. This made it much easier for Donny to throw the electric shuriken and shot off the cloaking devices and for the turtles to beat them to unconsciousness.

"Excellent work my sons," Splinter said.

"And we put out all the fires, too," Mikey joked.

"Which way now?" asked Donny.

"Up," Leo said, pointing to the hole in the ceiling.

(!)

The boys and Splinter climbed through the hole and found themselves in a room with all sorts of lab equipment and three green tubes in the center of it. Inside the tubes were creatures resembling hybrids of humans and crabs. Something about this seemed familiar.

"What is this place," asked Splinter.

"April," Donny said to his earpiece. "Check the building schematics. See if you could tell us where we are."

"All I can tell is, you're on the thirty-third floor. It won't display any other information."

Dante looked at the tubes. "Does this equipment seem familiar?"

"It should," said Donny. "It's a Foot genetics lab!"

Dante's eyes widened. "You mean...like back in the underground?"

"Dun, dun, dun, dun!" sang Mikey.

"Knock it off Mikey," said Raph as he slapped him.

Suddenly the alarm sounded. Everyone looked at Mikey. "I didn't touch anything! Honest!" Suddenly, the tubes opened and the creatures burst out, letting out roars and shrieks. One was large with four arms, one was skinny with crab claws and one was short with crab legs for fingers. But that wasn't what frightened the boys and Splinter. No, it was the armor they were wearing.

"Wh...Why do they look like...the Shredder?!" gasped Dante.

"They might be his genetic clones," Donny theorized.

"'Might be?'" questioned Raph.

"Hey Donny?" asked Mikey in fear. "Got anything in your bag of tricks to deal with this?"


	22. Chapter 22

_My name is Raph. I gotta hand it to Donny. His camouflage system kept our lair hidden from Shredder's goons while we were outta town. And when we decided to mount an all out assault to finish off the Shredder for good, it was Donny who figured out how to do it. He used the Battle Shell as a decoy to get us into Shredder's high-rise of evil undetected. Then he had some techno geek idea how to transfer the computer system controls to April while the rest of us engage in some serious butt-kicking ninja action. We had our hands full with the Foot Tech Ninjas, once again, Donatello's smarts helped finish them off. But not even big-brained Donny could've be prepared for what we face next._

(!)

"Not gonna lie," Dante said as the three crab clones of the Shredder slowly lurked toward them. "I feel like wetting my pants right now. What did you say these things were again, Donny? WHOA!" He ducked just in time to avoid being hit by the four-armed Shredder clone.

"My guess is," Donny said, struggling to fight off the four-armed Shredder clone. "They're genetically modified hybrid clones, recombinant genetic mutations of Shredder's DNA!"

"That's what I was gonna say," Mikey said as he smacked the four-armed Shredder clone in the face, but nothing happened.

Meanwhile, the Shredder clone with crab claws lunged at Splinter while the short Shredder clone slashed at Raph. Both rat and turtle fended off the Shredder clones, but they soon got back up. The short Shredder lunged at Raph again, only to be blocked by Leo. "Hold still, you puny little..." The Shredder clone jumped up into the air, off a wall and flew at Leo, only to be blocked by Raph. It smacked him aside when he tried to block off its claws.

Meanwhile, the four-armed Shredder clone continued to swing at Donny, Dante and Mikey, but with so many targets, it was hard to pick one. "Yo, armed and dangerous," Mikey taunted. "How'd you like some yucks and chucks!" The four-armed Shredder grabbed him by the nunchucks and tossed him aside. Dante hopped onto the clone's back and started hitting it with his tonfas, only to have himself slammed against its knee and tossed him into Mikey.

"April!" shouted Donny in his communicator. "Can you find us a way out of here? Fire stairs, an elevator, anything!"

"Working on it," she said on the other end. "I'll have your answer in a second."

"Do me a favor. Work faster!"

The four-armed Shredder clone stalked toward him, making him back away, but he stopped when he almost fell in the hole in the floor he and his family came in. Suddenly, he lost his balance and almost fell, but he grabbed onto the ledge just in time, but in the process, his communicator fell off his ear and fell, breaking upon impacting the floor. He climbed back up, only to be grabbed by the Shredder clone who began to crush him in a four-armed bear hug.

"Let him go!" Dante shouted. He charged at the clone, but to his surprise, it released one arm and used it to grab him by the throat. He struggled to release the grip on his neck, but to no avail. "Help..." he choked.

Raph and Leo, having defeated the other two Shredder clones, kicked the four-armed Shredder clone, making him let go of Dante and Donny. "Michelangelo," Splinter shouted. "With me!" The turtle and the rat jumped onto the top of the tubes where the clones came from and began to shake them off balance. Finally, they gave it one last heave and jumped off. All at once, the tubes fell on top of the Shredder clone, knocking it out cold. While the Leo, Raph and Splinter went to help Donny and Dante up, Mikey's shell cell rang.

"Mutant clone control," he said. "You splice 'em, we splice 'em."

"Mikey," April said on the other end, clearly worried. "Is Don okay? He's not answering his shell cell."

Mikey tossed the phone to his brother. "Yo, Donny, it's for you."

"April?" Donny said to the spare communicator. "What did you find?"

"Private elevator. Hidden behind a secret panel. I'm also showing wiring leading to a control button under one of the lab tables in your vicinity."

Donny walked to the table and fumbled around until he felt a button. "Got it." An elevator door opened, but to the family's frustration, it was on the other side of the hole. "And how are we supposed to get across that?" Raph asked sarcastically.

"No sweat," Donny said as he used his grappling hook to swing across the hole. "I came prepared."

It was Mikey's turn to swing with his own grappling hook, letting out a Tarzan yell as he did. Donny gave him a look. "What? At least it ain't cowabunga."

Dante was up next and he gave Mikey a flick on the forehead. "Moron."

Just before Leo could grapple with Splinter, the two remaining Shredder clones got up and lumbered forward. "I got this," Raph said. He fended off the clones while Splinter and Leo swung over to safety. Finally, he was ready to swing across the hole. "Later, lobster lips!" Unfortunately, the clone with lobster claws snapped the grappling hook's rope and he fell.

"Raph!" called out Leo. He was relieved when he saw Raph hanging onto the edge.

"Yeah, what?" he said sarcastically.

Down below, Hun, accompanied by a group of Foot Soldiers, saw the turtles. Hun snarled at the sight of them. "So the turtles are alive." He hopped into the tank with the multiple cannons. "But not for much longer." He aimed the cannons just as the Shredder clone with lobster claws lumbered toward Raph. Leo had a plan. "Raph, don't move until I till you!"

"ARE YOU NUTS?!"

"Trust me bro!"

Hun charged the cannon...the Shredder clone snapped its claws... "NOW!" shouted Leo. Raph jumped to the other side of the ledge, making the cannon fire at the Shredder clone instead.

With everyone on the other side of the hole, Donny pressed the button to call the elevator. "Hurry up, guys! We're about to have another clone encounter!"

Indeed, the short Shredder clone and the four-armed Shredder clone were lumbering toward the hole. Mikey taunted them, convinced they won't reach them...then regretted it when they jumped over the hole. "Ah, shell," cursed Raph.

"Donny. Door. Please!" shouted Dante.

His wish came true. The elevator door opened and the family ran in and the door closed on the two Shredder clones. "Okay," said Mikey. "Did Shredder like, wake up one morning and say, 'Hey! Here's an idea! Mutant clones of me! Really ugly ones!'" Suddenly, the doors dented inward as the two Shredder clones pounded on it. Leo looked up and opened the emergency hatch on the ceiling. "Everybody out! Double time," he shouted.

"Nunchuck express, going up!" Mikey said as he used his nunchucks to boost his brothers and sensei up and out.

"Now what?" asked Raph.

"Grab onto the counterweight cable," said Leo. They did so and he sliced the cable with his sword, making the elevator go down and them up. "Get ready; it's about to hit!" The elevator crashed to the ground, making the cable shake. Everyone flew off save for Splinter, who held on while his sons grabbed a ledge. "My sons, are you alright?"

"Define alright," said Dante. "I think I'm gonna be sick." He suddenly grabbed his side. No, not now. Luckily, the ledge the brothers were hanging onto was an elevator shaft door.

(!)

When the family left the elevator shaft, they found themselves in a long hall with a door with a red dragon's foot on it. "April," Donny said in his earpiece. "We need the 4-1-1 on our current location."

"Did you see a floor number?" April asked on the other end.

"Yeah. 72."

"Huh. That's weird."

"What?"

"There's a glitch in the schematic between the 71st and 73rd floors. Let me run a quick diagnostic."

"April, can you at least find us a way up? A stairwell or something?"

"Nada. Afraid you guys are on your own this time."

Donny sighed and hung up.

The brothers walked forward, but were stopped by Splinter. "What's wrong, Dad?" asked Dante.

"I sense something." He sniffed. "Traps. We must proceed with caution." He jumped from wall to wall, never letting his feet touch the ground until he reached the door. Donny pulled out his bo staff and pole vaulted across the hall, making sure nothing touches the ground. Then Raph stupidly and boldly said, "There ain't no traps down there." And he ran down the hall. Suddenly, he heard the sound of a blade whooshing by. He ducked just in time before the swinging pendulum could decapitate him. And he continued running, activating all the other traps. Then he jumped over a pit with spikes in it, reaching his brother and sensei, who both glared at him. "Raphael," Splinter scolded. "Your rashness will be the end of you yet."

"Hey, I made it, didn't I?"

"And what of your brothers?"

Mikey ran down the hall, avoiding the traps with both ninjutsu and an improvised dancing. "No sweat, master! Mikey got game, Mikey got hops, Mikey be in the zone!" He ducked and dodged the pendulums, then moonwalked past the saw blades. Splinter made a face as Mikey danced and sang, "Booyah! In your face, evil curly blades! Go Mikey, go Mikey, go go, go Mikey!" Unfortunately, he celebrated too soon. A pendulum sliced off the ends of his bandana mask, making him run and jump over the pit of spikes. "Uh, the trendy, new short headbands are in this season. All the stylish ninja are wearing them."

Dante was the next to go pass the traps. And he did it all without having to dance...and he wore an angry look on his face. One directed at Raph, who gulped as he jumped over the pit and at him. "Uh, Master Splinter?"

"I'M GONNA KILL YOU, RAPH!" Dante shouted as he tackled him to the ground. "I'm gonna kill you! I'm gonna bury you! Then I'm gonna clone you and shove my tonfas far up your clone's butt!"

Leo was the last to reach the end and when he did, he pulled Dante off Raph and shouted louder, "No more fooling around, Dante! Not today." And he walked by him.

"I get it," Dante said as he helped Raph up. "We're in another fight for our lives, but that doesn't mean you have to act like a jerk!" Leo ignored him and opened the door.

(!)

On the other side of the door, the family found themselves in an outdoors area. It looked like a temple with five sinister looking statues of men wearing samurai armor and helmets and carrying tridents. At the base of the statues were five Japanese writings carved into Foot Clan symbols. Splinter inspected the writings. "What do they say?" asked Dante.

"These symbols represent one of the five elements: Earth, Fire, Water, Wind and Metal."

Suddenly, the statues began twitching, then their skin turned from stone to flesh, and finally their armors changed colors as they began to move. The first's turned brown and mud began to ooze off of it. The second's turned red and spontaneously combusted. The third's turned blue and water began to run down it like a waterfall. The fourth's turned grey and air began to blow in and out of the sleeves. And the fifth's turned green and turned into pure metal.

"Be prepared for anything, my sons," Splinter warned them.

"We've got them out numbered," Dante said. "It's six to five." But he knew that numbers didn't matter.

The Foot Mystics raised their tridents and energy shot out of them, but the family blocked them with their weapons. Then the Foot Mystics added more power and sent them flying into a wall. "Do technicolor lightning bolts qualify as 'anything'?," Mikey said.

"Yep," Dante said. "Yep, it does. AH!"

"What's wrong?" Leo turned around to see Dante struggling to get up, and to make matters worse, his left side was bleeding. "Dante!"

Dante looked up, then gasped in horror when the metal Foot Mystic raised his trident. Suddenly, the armor began to stretch out and wrap itself around his body. "UGH! Crushing me!"

"I got you!" Leo shouted, and he kicked the Foot Mystic away, releasing his grip. "Are you okay?"

"No. I'm...behind you!"

The earth Foot Mystic pinned Leo to the wall with his trident, but Leo kicked back.

Meanwhile, Raph fought off the water Foot Mystic, but found that his sai blades were simply phasing through it, not hurting it at all. "You can't even touch these things!"

Mikey, meanwhile, kicked the metal Foot Mystic. "Yow! That's not entirely true."

Donny fought off the fire Foot Mystic, blocking his attacks or dodging the fireballs. How his bo staff didn't catch fire, he never knew.

The wind Foot Mystic then set his eyes on Leo and formed a tornado. Leo was almost sucked into it, but managed to hold onto a pedestal to keep himself from getting blown away.

Meanwhile, Splinter fought of the earth Foot Mystic with his walking stick, but not matter how many times he struck the Foot Mystic, the earth around him reformed his armor. Then the Foot Mystic struck the ground, creating a small earthquake to send him flying.

Raph, meanwhile, continued to fight the water Foot Mystic, but no matter what he did, nothing harmed him. Then the Foot Mystic trapped Raph in a sphere of water with the intention of drowning him.

Dante and Mikey continued to fight the metal Foot Mystic, but no matter what they did, they couldn't even put a dent in the armor. Not to mention, it hurt just to punch him. "What is this guy," Dante muttered. "Invincible?!"

"There must be some way to fight fire with fire!" Donny shouted.

Dante suddenly eyed the magic sword strapped with Leo's katanas. "Or magic with magic...Dad! The magic sword!"

Splinter nodded, realizing what the boy had in mind. He ran to the sword and unsheathed it. "Master Splinter!" gasped Leo. "What are you doing?"

Splinter ignored the pain in his hands as the sword's energy ignited the blade with a blue light. "I believe that conquering our mystic foes requires a mystic weapon."

"But you need the glove, sensei!" Donny shouted, chucking the glove to Splinter. "Catch!"

But he didn't even pick it up. "There is no time! Leonardo, get your brothers away from the temple!" And he slashed the sword, releasing a wave of blue light at the Foot Mystics. "NOW!" He slashed it again, popping the sphere Raph was trapped in, and he gulped in fresh air. The Foot Mystics surrounded Splinter, tridents at the ready. He slashed at the fire Foot Mystic, blowing the flames in the direction of the metal Foot Mystic. "Fire melts Metal!" The water Foot Mystic blasted jets of water at him, but he dodged every one of them. "Water quenches Fire!" He blasted the sword at the Foot Mystic, dousing the fire Foot Mystic behind him. "Earth swallows Water!" He blasted the sword in the earth Foot Mystic's direction, making the mud absorb the water Foot Mystic. "Wind scatters Earth!" He blasted the sword at the wind Foot Mystic, making the earth Foot Mystic crumble to dust. "And I shall quell the Wind!" He spun the sword around, charging up the energy in the blade as the wind Foot Mystic prepared to blast typhoon winds at the rat, only for Splinter to blast the energy at him, making him crash into the temple and collapse on him.

When it was over, Splinter dropped the sword and fell to his hands and knees. "Master Splinter!" exclaimed Leo. He, Raph and Mikey helped the old rat up. "Leonardo," he said. "Retrieve the sword." Donny handed him the safety glove, allowing Leo to sheath the sword without frying his hands.

"Dad," exclaimed Dante. "Your hands!"

"The Sword of Tengu is a potent mix of science and sorcery. Only a true master can wield it without the protective glove. But there is a price to be paid." He winced at he burns on his hands.

"Makes you wonder what's in store for us on the next twenty floors," Donny said as he healed his master's wounds.

Mikey's jaw dropped. "We only have twenty floors to go?!"

"If we even make it that far," Raph said grimly.

"There's no _if_ about it," Leo snapped as he removed the rubble away from the only exit. "We will make it to the Shredder! Have you guys forgotten how he forced us from our home, burned down April's building, nearly killed Dante?!" Dante grabbed his side when he mentioned that. Leo continued, "'Cause I sure hadn't! And I'm gonna see this through to the bitter end!"

"I'm with you, Bro," Raph said.

"Me, too," said Donny.

"We'll see this through together," Mikey cheered.

"All of us," agreed Splinter.

"It's now or never," Dante said. "After all, we - AUGH!" He grabbed his bleeding side again. "No! Damn it!"

"Hey, isn't that where the Shredder stabbed you back at the store?" asked Donny, rushing with the first aid kit.

"Grr. That Foot Mystic must have opened up the wound," Dante lied.

"No," Splinter said, his eyes narrowing. "I noticed you were grabbing your side long before we made it to this room. You didn't fully heal at all, did you?"

Everyone was looking at him. "Fine. You got me. It's just...when I heard you guys were returning to the lair earlier than I expected, I didn't want to be left out. So I left the hospital without the doctor's say so."

"Dude," Raph said. "You're better off lying in a hospital bed than be with us!"

"Like you wouldn't do the same," Dante barked back.

"Okay, you got me."

"It doesn't matter," Leo said. "You've become a liability."

Dante frowned as Donny applied gauze to the reopened wound. "We can't do anything about it now. And I am NOT a liability. I can still fight."

Leo sighed. "Fine. But when we face the Shredder, _stay out of it_." Dante hadn't heard Leo be this harsh before. To be honest it scared him.

"April," Donny said to his earpiece. "Any luck finding a stairway out of here?"

"Best I can find is a private elevator on the west side of the building, but I can't tell if it reaches your floor."

"The west side..." Dante said, looking at five doors at the temple. These too had the symbols on the Foot Mystics' statues: Earth, Fire, Water, Wind and Metal. "I think I know where the door is. Where does the wind blow?"

Leo said, "North, south, east..." He sliced the wind symbol with his katanas, revealing a door with the Foot Clan symbol on it. "Found it."

"So where does this take us, April?" Donny asked.

"Straight to the top, boys. Straight to the top."

As the elevator went straight up, Splinter inhaled deeply. "There is no turning back now, but no matter what happens today, I have never been more proud of you all. My ninja. My sons."

"Even me?" asked Dante nervously.

Splinter gave him a hug. "Even you."

Dante hugged the rat back and bawled his eyes out. "Dad...guys...I love you all!"

The other turtles hugged the boy in return.

(!)

The door opened, revealing a small doorway with the Foot Clan symbol on it. The family inhaled, then exhaled. This was it. No turning back. Leo kicked down the door, and they found themselves in the Shredder's throne room. The room was adorned with pillars carved into dragons and there were tapestries with red dragon feet on them. But, there was one important thing missing: there was no Shredder.

The boys walked forward to investigate...suddenly, in a puff of smoke, there appeared five men with black outfits, red capes and straw hats. "The Foot Ninja Elites," gulped Dante.

"Shredder's Elite Guard," said Leo, his voice in slight fear as he remembered how they brutalized him the first time they met.

"You can do it, bro," Raph said assuringly. "We're all in this together."

Suddenly, Hun appeared and laughed. "You have no idea how true that is, freak!"

But no one made a move. "What are they waiting for?" asked Mikey.

"Orders," said Leo.

"Astute as usual, Leonardo," said the Shredder as he appeared behind his throne, accompanied by a woman in a lab coat. "I don't know how you managed to survive our last encounter, but I can assure you you will not survive this one."

"Your Elite Guard will not stop me, Oroku Saki," hissed Splinter, only to be stopped by Leo who said, "No, sensei. This is one I need to lead. Dante, find some place to hide."

"Uh...I'm not sure that's possible anymore."

The Shredder raised his hand. "Elite Ninja, ATTACK!"

"Not the boy!" shouted the woman. "I want the others to greet him."

"Very well."

While the turtles and Splinter fought off the Shredder, the Elites and Hun, Dante faced the woman alone. "I'm not sure fighting you is going to be fair. You've got no weapons."

"I do have weapons," the woman smirked. "I created them." She raised her hands. "ALL TWENTY OF THEM!" Suddenly, out of the blue, a group of children dropped from the ceiling. The turtles, Splinter and Dante gasped. The children were about his age and they all came from different diversities: African, Asian, European, Hispanic, etcetera; and they all wore simple body suits with the familiar crest of the Foot Clan on the chest...and looks of pure hate and rage. The woman laughed maniacally, "Behold, the Foot Sleepers! The perfect spies and assassins! And all of them loyal to the Shredder!"

"Foot Sleepers?" Dante gasped. Then he gripped his tonfas in rage. "You...did this to...children?!"

"Of course! Who would suspect that a bunch of doorstop orphan babies would grow up be the perfect spy, programmed since their time in the womb to become killing machines and locate and destroy an enemy of the Shredder until it's too late?" Dante's rage overwhelmed him. With a yell, he lunged at the doctor, only for one of the Foot Sleepers to leap into the air and kick him right in his wounded stomach. "Guagh!" He fell to the floor, clutching his stomach. "Aw, what's wrong?" the woman said. "Sensitive stomach?"

Dante slowly got up and glared at the doctor. "Not yet..." He readied his tonfas and twirled them in his hands. "I will help my family defeat the Shredder. I will help Leo overcome his defeat! I will have my revenge!"

"Heh, heh, heh. I doubt that."

"Bring it on."

"If you insist."

With the snap of her fingers, all twenty of the children lunged at Dante. They punched him, kicked him, karate chopped him; they were relentless. But Dante still fought back, dodging some of the attacks while also landing some blows of his own onto the children. But no matter how much he tried, the Foot Sleepers kept coming back up. "Come on," Dante panted, sweat running down his face. "Keep 'em coming. I'll just keep - augh!" He fell to his knees, clutching his side. "Oh, damn it!"

"Looks like it's over," the doctor said. "Finish this little failure."

Dante's veins bulged. "Don't call me small..."

Before the Foot Sleepers could finish him off, the whole throne room began to shake. Then the floor began to give way, forcing all the fighters to jump away from the hole that was forming. Then, from out of the hole crawled out a giant white robot with four arms bearing futuristic weaponry on each hand. But the most shocking thing about the robot was the man in the cockpit controlling it. The Shredder's eyes widened and he exclaimed with shock and anger, "WHAT IS THIS?! _BAXTER STOCKMAN_?!"

"In the flesh so to speak," Doctor Stockman said. His left eye patch had been replaced with some sort of monocle.

The Shredder pointed at him, "You will pay for your false report of the turtles' demise! However, you can redeem yourself. DESTROY THE TURTLES!"

But Stockman laughed. "You blind, ignorant, self-important fool! I didn't make this suit to help you, Shredder! I made it to destroy you! For every punishment you've inflicted upon me," he said, pointing back at Shredder. "I will make you suffer tenfold. You will finally learn to respect your superior intellect!"

The Shredder growled at him, "Stockman, I'll have your head for this."

"No, Shredder. I'll have yours." Stockman then turned to face the turtles and Splinter. "And you meddlesome creatures! You have interfered with my plans for the last time."

"You believe this guy's rant?" Mikey asked Donny as he twirled a finger near his temple. "Whack job city!"

Stockman shouted, "You'll pay! All of you! Not one of you will leave this room alive! You'll all be crushed by the genius of Doctor Baxter Stockman! Ah, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha!"

Donny gulped. " _Dangerous_ whack job city."


	23. Chapter 23

_My name is Leonardo. When we decided to return to New York and face the Shredder, we knew it wasn't going to be easy. It was gonna take everything we had and then some. But what we didn't know, what we couldn't have foreseen, was that fruitcake Baxter Stockman..._

In the flesh.

 _...turning himself into some kind of ultra cyborg. Nevertheless, we have come here prepared to fight to the finish and that's exactly what we're gonna do._

(!)

Stockman continued to laugh at the Shredder. "Do you know the most beautiful thing about my brilliant plan? I _used you_ , Shredder to transform me into this ultra cyborg you see before you! A truly superior work of genius! But all good things must come to an end. It's time to bid you adieu."

"There's always an answer for you, is there, Stockman?" the doctor in charge of the Foot Sleepers said.

"Ah, Doctor Xavier, come to watch me prove to you that I am the superior scientist, and not you?"

Xavier just frowned. "I hate you."

"Your opinions mean nothing to me. Now stand aside, Xavier. I have turtles and a rat to make soup out of." And he aimed the robot's gatling gun at the turtles, the rat, the boy and the Foot.

"Don?" April said on her end, panicking. "You guys okay? I'm picking up multiple explosions! Guys! GUYS! DO YOU COPY?!"

"Can't talk now, April," Donny said as he dodged a barrage of missiles. "Kind of busy staying alive! Call you later!" He jumped out of the way just in time before a pillar landed on him.

Then Stockman aimed his weapons at the Foot Elites and the Foot Sleepers. "Out of my way," he said. And he fired a rocket at them. While the Sleepers managed to jump out of the way, the Elites screamed as the rocket blasted them down a hole in the floor. Suddenly, the Shredder leaped at him, only to be smacked aside and into the throne. Then Stockman turned his focus on Hun. "Now, where did Hunny get to?" he mocked as he stomped toward the giant man. "There you are!"

Hun grabbed a torched and swung it at Stockman, but it did absolutely nothing. Stockman grabbed him by the throat and said, "I've been _so_ looking forward to this. It's payback time!" He swung Hun around, smashing him into a pillar. "Oh, that felt good! Now I'm going to take you apart, piece by piece! A lovely irony, wouldn't you say?" He laughed, but then stopped when the Shredder leaped into the air and slashed at the glass of his cockpit. But then the glass instantly fixed itself.

"WHAT?!" shouted Shredder.

Stockman explained with a smile, "It's a self-healing polymer acrylic, just one of 39 patented items I developed using _your_ resources." Shredder growled at him, but he continued, "You made it all possible, Shredder and didn't suspect a thing, you pompous, overblown ignoramus! But the time has come for you to be re-educated in my brilliance!" One of Stockman's arms stretched out, grabbed the Shredder and began tossing him around like a rag doll before smashing him to the ground.

The turtles, Splinter and Dante just stared in shock as Stockman laughed. "It took everything we had to beat the Shredder last time," said Raph in awe.

"And Robo-Nut just took him out in just 4.5 seconds!" exclaimed Donny. "The Shredder _and_ Hun!"

"Does that mean Stockman did all the hard work for us?" asked Dante.

Mikey raised his hand, "Um...can we go home now?"

Then Stockman turned his attention to the turtles, Splinter and Dante. "And now, the boy and his pet freaks. It's most fortiutous that you're here. Really. You're on my list of parties responsible for recent misfortunes in my life. The charges are: ruining my genius work, interfering with my brilliant schemes, and hampering my destiny as the world's foremost criminal and scientific prodigy!"

"You did that yourself, Stickman," Dante groaned, still holding his injured stomach. "Think about it. Did you honestly think your bank robbing scheme with your Mousers wouldn't attract any attention?" Stockman growled at him, but he continued. "Face it, genius! Your misfortunes happened because of your fat ego! And by the way, can you really say they're _your_ brilliant schemes? Seems like Shredder and Hun are the real geniuses."

"Enough! I will not be lectured by a failure of a science experiment!" He fired both the robot's flamethrower and machine gun, making the turtles, Dante and Splinter take cover. Stockman laughed, only to be interrupted by Splinter hopping onto the robot and attempting to break the glass with his walking stick. Stockman merely scoffed and smacked him off.

"Master Splinter!" cried out Leo. "No!"

He and Raph slashed the robot's chest while Donny and Mikey attacked the legs, only to be swatted away. "Is that all you got," Stockman boasted, firing missiles at Leo. He dodged them just in time.

Meanwhile, Dante took out his grappling hook, wrapped it around the robot's legs and gave it a tug. Stockman laughed. "Rope?! You're trying to stop me with rope? How positively primitive."

"I got your primitive right here!" shouted Raph as he kicked the robot in chest. It teetered over, then fell down the hole.

Shredder got up and dusted himself off. "That's one minor annoyance disposed of." Then he turned his attention to the turtles, Splinter and Dante. "Now to finish you fools!"

Suddenly, Stockman flew out of the hole and landed on the floor with a thud. "You insufferable nitwits! Doctor Baxter Stockman is not so easily dismissed! Kiss your shells goodbye, freaks!" He fired the flamethrower at the family, making them scatter. When he fired his machine gun at them, Leo sliced it off before it could do any real damage. "My robotic arm! No!" In a rage, he fired his missiles at the turtle, making him crash into a wall. Then Stockman exhaled. "It's nothing. Just a momentary nuisance. My backup systems..." He was suddenly interrupted when the Foot Sleepers returned and pushed him onto his back. Then another Foot Sleeper sliced the robot's right leg off. "Get off me, you miniscule-" He didn't get to finish his insult. The Foot Sleepers lifted him up into the air, then tossed him out the window. "This is just a minor setback!" he shouted.

The turtles, Splinter and Dante blinked. "Whoa, those kids are strong," Mikey said.

"Yeah," Raph said. "And I don't think it was from them eating their vitamins."

Shredder growled, "Now where were we?"

Suddenly, Stockman flew back in.

"My internal jetpack array," laughed Stockman. "I spared no expense. And why should I? After all, _you_ were footing the bill, Shredder." Stockman fired missiles, sending the fighters scattering in all directions.

"Man," groaned Mikey as he rubbed his head. "Can somebody please shut down that giant flying toaster oven?!"

"Maybe we can pull his plug," Donny theorized as he dodged more missiles. "Leo, his exosuit's power supply! Those radium power cells on his back!"

"On it!"

"You peon stand no chance against my vastly superior intellect," Stockman boasted. "I, Doctor Baxter Stockman shall..." He didn't finish his boast. Leo cut the power supply, making him fall flat on his face.

"Finally," exclaimed Mikey. "Shut him down, shut him up!"

Then Stockman got back up. "WHY WON'T YOU DIE?!" screamed Dante.

"I have asked myself that question many times," said Shredder bluntly.

"That ploy might have worked against a lesser mechanoid," said Stockman. "But as always, I'm one step ahead in my design work. In addition to the central power modules, each component of my cyborg armor has its own internal backup power source."

A lightbulb dinged in Dante's brain as he eyed the machine gun arm that Leo sliced off. "So, by that explanation," he said as he aimed it at Stockman. "This would still be functional? Oh, and by the way, the so-called freaks? They're not my pets. They're my family!"

Stockman's pulse skyrocketed. "Oh, no!" He tried to get away, but Dante pulled the trigger, making the doctor fly far out the window and into the Hudson River.

Dante dropped the gun and sighed. "Finally." Then he felt his side ache again. "No, darn it!" Suddenly, he felt a presence behind him. He turned around to see the Shredder behind him. "Now where were we?" the evil man said. "Oh, yes." He slashed his claws at Dante, but the boy dodged him...only to run into three of the Foot Sleepers.

"Oh, damn." Suddenly, his thoughts were interrupted when he saw the Shredder kick Splinter out the window...and off the building. "DAD!" Hate filled his heart as he forgot all about the Foot Sleepers and charged at the Shredder, tackling him through another window and into the penthouse garden. Then he grabbed the Shredder by the throat and began to choke him. Or at least attempted to. The Shredder slashed his claws into his stomach and punched him off his body.

"This time," Shredder said as he lifted the boy up. "I will make sure you're dead." But he didn't get the chance. At that moment, Raph, Donny and Mikey appeared and the three of them kicked the Shredder, making him let go of Dante. Then, Leo appeared, armed with the Sword of Tengu. That was when Shredder turned his attention from the other turtles and Dante to Leo. "The Sword of Tengu," he snarled.

Leo blasted a wave of energy from the sword and at the Shredder, making him crash into a pond. He climbed back out and said in a labored voice, "This cannot be happening! I cannot lose!"

At that moment, the Foot Sleepers and Doctor Xavier returned. "And you won't," the woman said. "Foot Sleepers, attack! Destroy the turtles and the traitor!"

"'Traitor?' Who is she talking about?" asked Leo.

(!)

From a building across the street, two men in black watched the battle. The same men in black who helped Leo and Dante. The first contacted the three men. "My lords, it's the turtles. They're alive. They've engaged the Shredder in the heart of his lair. And, they've brought Dante and the Sword of Tengu with them."

"Dante is one thing," the council said. "But the Sword of Tengu? This could prove to be disastrous."

"With respect, the Sword of Tengu could be their salvation."

"Or our destruction. Ready your men, guardian. See that the turtles are victorious. And pray that Dante took the suppressors."

"As you command," the guardian said with a smile.

(!)

Meanwhile, Leo fought off one of the Foot Sleepers, only to have the child knock the Sword of Tengu and the safety glove out of his hand. Dante saw that the Shredder was walking toward it, but he was quicker. He put on the glove and grabbed the sword and pointed it at the Shredder's stomach. "Do you really want a deja vu feeling in your gut again, Saki?" He grunted when he felt the pain in his stomach again. "Would you stop doing that?"

Shredder just laughed. "Look at you! You can barely stand on your legs now, you've lost so much blood! Do you honestly believe you can stop me?"

Dante lowered his head. "No. I don't." Then he raised it again. "But that doesn't mean I'm just gonna kneel to you in defeat!"

Shredder chuckled. "A fool to the end. I can see how resilient Dr. Xavier programmed you."

Dante raised an eyebrow. "Programmed me?"

"You want the answers? Ask her." He pointed to Dr. Xavier, who was watching the battle in the penthouse. "That is," he said as he raised his claw. "If you live long enough!" But before he could strike, Leo stepped in front of him. "Ah, Leondardo. It is unfortunate that you did not join me when I offered you the chance. You could have served me well!"

"I'd rather fall in battle in honor than serve you!"

"So be it. Elite Ninja, to me!" In a puff of smoke, the Foot Ninja Elite returned by Shredder's side. "Finish this," he ordered. But the Foot Ninja Elite never got the chance; they were blasted off the building (and causing a fire in the process) by a wave of energy from the Sword of Tengu. Both Shredder and Leo turned to find Dante, struggling to hold up the sword.

"The sword," gasped Shredder. "I must have it!" He charged at Dante, only to be kicked away by Leo.

"It's over, Shredder!" shouted Leo as he and his brothers rejoined, protecting Dante. "Dante, run and hide!"

But the Shredder just laughed. "You are fools! This is my fortress! My stronghold! Did you believe you could defeat me here?!" He pressed a button on a statue, and an army of Foot Soldiers appeared, all of them armed.

"Oh, give me a break," Mikey groaned.

"Nobody said it was gonna be easy," Raph said.

All of a sudden, a man in black with blue hair tied in a pony tail jumped from nowhere. "Easy? No," he said. "But perhaps we can offer you a little assistance."

"We?" asked Raph.

All at once, seven more men in black joined the first, all of them armed with glowing blue katanas.

"Hurry," the first said to Leo. "We must keep the Shredder from the Sword of Tengu!"

(!)

Meanwhile, Dante hid behind a pile of rubble, praying that the Shredder or any of the Foot would find him. Suddenly, a clawed hand burst through his hiding spot and the Shredder tried to reach for him. "Give me the sword and I'll let you live! Give me the sword!" Suddenly, he let out a groan of pain as he felt the Sword of Tengu stab him in the gut and a wave of energy electrocuted him. "You wanted it," Dante smirked. "You got it." The smirk vanished when Shredder pulled him out of his hiding spot and tossed him into the garden and pull the sword out of his stomach.

"Ah, power," he said victoriously, even as he held his bleeding stomach. "I had almost forgotten. The Sword of Tengu, the sword with which I laid villages to waste, brought castles to ground, vanquished armies! The sword that I used to conquer Japan and give power to the Tokugawa Clan! It is mine once more!" He blasted a wave of energy at the turtles, making them crash into the burning penthouse. Then he walked over to Raph and pointed the sword at him... "NO!" Leo shouted as he blocked the sword with his own katanas and pushed him backward.

"Get in close," he ordered his brothers. "It's the only way!"

It proved to be effective. While Donny and Mikey distracted the Shredder, Leo and Raph got in close and knocked the sword out of his hand and land in front of Dante. He picked it up with the safety glove, then tossed them both to Leo. "Catch!"

While Leo caught the glove and sword, Shredder stole his swords and pointed them at Leo. They both stared at each other...then they leaped into the air, weapons ready. The sound of metal clanging filled the air as the fighters struck their weapons. Then they both landed, unharmed. Then the Shredder dropped Leo's swords...and his head fell clean off his shoulders. His body fell into a fire, and was quickly immolated.

(!)

Meanwhile, Dante watched from where he was hiding, he watched in shock as the headless Shredder fell into the fire. Then he sighed in relief. "It's over."

Suddenly, he found himself surrounded by the men in black. Guardians, did they call them?

"Is this the only one we could find?" one of them asked.

"Sadly, yes. The others have fled," said another.

Dante saw that they had one article of clothing they had in common: a yellow amulet with an octopus on it. Just like the first guardian that was with Leo. Just like...just like...

(!)

Dante suddenly let out a roar and lunged at the guardians, only to be knocked out by one of them. "The program kicked in. I thought he took the suppressants before leaving the hospital," he said.

"He did," the one with blue hair said. "But it seems the loss of blood has reversed the effects." He picked up the boy and put him on his shoulders. "We'll return him to HQ, heal him and remove his programming there. Permanently this time. And bring the rat. His wounds will need healing as well."

(!)

Dr. Xavier watched the whole thing. The turtles defeated Shredder, and they destroyed the Sword of Tengu before leaving. And to make matters worse, one of her own was taken by the "guardians". Oh, well. Still, she knew where he would be going thanks to the tracer her Foot Sleepers were born with. But now was not the time. She walked over to the Shredder's helmeted head and picked it up before walking over to his body and said, "You can stop playing dead now, Saki."

The Shredder's headless body slowly rose up before taking the helmet from her. The two of them walked back into the lair, ignoring the fires around them. If there was anyone who was witnessing this, they would have asked just one question: "Just, what the shell _is_ he?!"


End file.
